Much ado about the details
by this-is-SPARTA
Summary: max didn't escape alone and the pulse never happened, the possibilities are endless. Completely AU, ML of course
1. getting out of dodge

**Authours note:** When I figure out where in my mind this came from, I'll be sure to let you know. It is a bit far of the beaten track...okay , way off the beaten track but it's my first attempt, so if it sucks R&R and be as brutal as you like. I'm not american nor have I ever been there so most of the places are either names I made up or found on a map somewhere, I'm always open to correction.

**PS:** Sorry, No beta, but i think it's all good (hopefully)

**Disclaimer: **Dark angel and all its characters belong to Cameron and Eglee, I own nothing but my own characters so you could sue me if you really wanted the stack of comic books and stick of gum that I have to my name

_**Gillette, Wyoming 2009**_

The sound of helicopters over head and snowmobiles getting closer faded as the icy water numbed her senses, if the unit that had stopped on the frozen lake water above her didn't move soon she'd be dead very soon. She didn't mind much, death would be a welcomed escape, not what they had planned but anything was better than going back, she would never go back there.

The soldiers moved on and she hauled herself out of the freezing cold water, her muscles screaming at the exertion as frostbite began to set in, she had to get to the perimeter fence but she had lost her bearings when she fell trough the ice. A sound of foot steps in the snow made her turn, fighting stance in place, she may be cold and tired but she wasn't going to go out without a fight. She relaxed when her brother emerged out of the trees but there would be time to explain later, they were still in hostile territory and the sound of unfriendly fire echoed around them.

With her brother's help they reached the perimeter fence without running into any soldiers, they climbed over the six foot fence effortlessly and once over allowed themselves to relax a little more, but they weren't out of the woods yet, literally. In front of them stretched the woods that surrounded the facility, after a series of hand gestures they both agreed that they had better odds of evading capture if they went uphill, _throw the enemy off keep them guessing _its what they were taught and all that they knew.

As they climbed the sound of dogs, helicopters, trucks and snowmobiles grew louder below them, so they ran faster until the trees stopped and a wide road stretched out in front of them. Krit turned to ask his sister what they should do next only to find her on her hands and knees, violent tremors racking her body. Her seizures had returned in full force and she had been shivering uncontrollably since she had come out of the lake, Krit knelt next to his sister draping her arm around his shoulders and helping her gently to her feet.

"Come on Maxie, we can make it."

They made it to the middle of the road before she collapsed again; Krit knelt down beside her and watched helplessly as the tremors increased, Max grabbed his arm searching for something that would make the pain stop. The sound of a V8 engine roared, coming closer every second, Max couldn't move and was shaking so much Krit couldn't carry her and he was not about to leave her behind so all he could do was hope he could fight whoever it was off. Seconds later the beam from the headlights engulfed the pair and the black Chevy screeched to a halt, the door opened and a lone silhouette stepped onto the tarmac and approached them slowly.

Lieutenant David Sanchez eyed the pair wearily as he drew closer, he knew who they were and what they were capable of, he had been off barracks when the sirens went off but the transmission on his radio told him all he needed to know. Once he heard order ten-zero-six being issued he knew he could never go back, what they did to those kids was enough to live with but he certainly wasn't about to kill one of them, they needed to escape and so did he and it was now or never. He knew people who could fix him up with a fake identity so he could start fresh and try to forget all he had seen and he had been on his way there when he had to bump into two of them.

Now he had two options, help them or shoot them and he wasn't about to do the latter. He tied to show them he wasn't a threat by raising his hands in the air, he was fully aware that either one of them could snap his neck before he drew his next breath. As he came closer he noticed how the one on the floor was shaking, seizures were common among the X5s and they were all made to carry an emergency supply of tryptophan and he brought one of his hands down to fumble around in the breast pocket of his vest. At the movement the one kneeling made a move to get up.

"Easy, I'm on your side." David tried his hardest to sound sincere

"No you're not, you're one of them!" Krit snapped gesturing towards the soldier's uniform, he wished Max would let go of the vice grip she had on his arm so he could eliminate the threat.

"I used to be," David tried again, this time with a little more force, "I can help her if you let me." He nodded his head towards Max

Krit looked down at his sister who had closed her eyes against the pain and had now broken out in a cold sweat, he looked back up at the soldier needing more than just a promise.

"Here," David said pulling his gun out of its holster at his waist and chucking it at Krit who caught it with practised precision, "I hurt her in any way you can kill me."

Krit seemed happy with the decision and David wasted no time in bridging the gap between him and the kids. His still fumbling hand finally emerged with a vile and syringes grasped tightly between his fingers. He had the syringe full in seconds and with one final look at Krit for his approval he plunged the needle into her thigh and emptied its contents, two long minutes passed before the tremors stopped and Max was still again. David looked around nervously, they had been there too long and they had to move now.

"We have to go, NOW!" the kid seemed hesitant, so David pushed the issue, "Come on kid, have I given you any reason not to trust me?"

Krit had to admit he had a point, not only had he stopped but he had helped and that made him alright in his book even if he was a soldier. Max had released her grip and with out a word in argument Krit helped settle Max on the back seat of the truck then climbed in him self. With one final look in the rear view mirror David pulled off and began the drive through the Rockies and across the country to Malibu and his contacts Mr and Mrs Guevera, a surgeon and a journalist who promised him a new life.

He had first met Gabrielle Guevera at an AA meeting two years back, he had turned to alcohol to try and help him live with that they did in that place, she was doing a story on how alcohol destroyed lives and he got picked as her case study. She hounded him with questions everyday, asking why he was so miserable and why he felt drinking was the only solution, one session he accidentally let slip about Manticore and of course she wanted to know more, it wasn't everyday you stumbled apon a multi-million dollar covert military operation.

Instead of it being front page news the next day Gabrielle made a deal with him, he would stay at Manticore as an inside informant while she worked on a way to try and bring them down for good and in exchange he would be protected when the penny dropped. Her and her husband Rick had many friends in high places and Rick being the man of science that he was, was fascinated by the thought of genetic manipulation so the quid pro quo was established an David had been feeding them what information he could ever since.

But now tables had turned, not only was he collecting on his part before they had actually terminated the program but he was bringing two examples of genetics at their best right to their door, he didn't think just pitching up would do the trick so he reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the cell phone they had given him and punched in a number, it rang a couple times before a female voice came over the line.

"_Hello"_

"Gabrielle?"

"_Yeah, David, that you?" _

"Yup, its me, something came up, I'm out."

"_What came up? Why are you out?"_

"An X5 unit tried to escape, to contain the situation they had to be taken out before they got to the perimeter fence, they wanted me to kill them and I couldn't, I won't." he glanced behind him at the two kids in the back seat, the little boy who called himself Krit was looking out the window at the passing scenery but David knew he was listening to every word of the conversation, "I was off base when I heard the order come in so I took off, on my way I found two of the escapees."

"_What, where are they now?" she _voice interrupted

"They're with me, right now, one's in pretty bad shape, hypothermia I think plus she's got that neurological condition I was telling you about but I think she is going to pull through."

"_Hang on a sec," _David heard her talking to someone then she was back on the line, _"Bring them here as soon as you can, your papers will be here, how far away are you?"_

"We're a couple miles out of Buffalo, but if I dive all day tomorrow I reckon we'll be there by about 2000 hours."

"_See you then, be careful." _With that she ended the call and David tucked the phone back into the glove compartment. They drove in silence the rest of the way, each not knowing what to say to the other. Max awoke about midday and spent the rest of the day watching the hills roll by through her window, then watched as they flattened out into the dessert, she gazed in awe as they passed through the cities and a place David called Los Vegas took her breath away. Krit was relieved she was up and about, he hated having to make decisions, she was after all his superior officer.

At a truck stop David had got them new clothes and they couldn't help but touch the soft colourful fabric that was such a contrast to the dull uniform grey that used to surround them, life was worth living just to see how many colours there were in the world, Max and Krit saw their first sunset that day out of the window of that Chevy pick up and for the first time in their lives they felt free. Night had fallen by the time they pulled up into the drive way of the biggest house Max and Krit had seen so far, the huge metal gates had swung forward automatically at their arrival and the doors to the house swung open as the tires of the car crunched the gravel beneath them.

The car came to a stand still in front of the stair case that led to the house and David jumped out to open the back door for Max and Krit who cautiously stepped out of the car examining their surroundings, the smell of salt and water graced their noses and told them that the sea was near or so David told them. A man and a woman stood before them smiling and David moved forward to greet them. The man was tall with broad shoulders, his black hair was precision cut, his jaw lined with stubble and his Hispanic features were soft and kind. He examined the children before him with his deep chocolate eyes as his wife gave David a peck on the cheek. She was tall as well, but still shorter than her husband, her long brown hair flowed past her shoulders as she walked towards Max and Krit, her Hispanic features were disrupted slightly by the green of her eyes but they were warm and friendly which let Max and Krit relax a little. David came up behind them and urged them forward,

"Max and Krit meet Rick Guevera and his wife Gabrielle."


	2. me and my baby

_**Eight years later…**_

"KRIT! Give them back!" Max bellowed as she tried to grab her keys from her brother.

"Nope, I feel like riding to school today." He easily swatted off her attacks while continuing to eat his cereal a wicked smile on his face.

"I swear to god if you don't give them back I'll kick your ass." She spat as she lunged for them again.

"Max…," Gabrielle warned as she entered the kitchen cup of coffee in one hand the morning paper in the other, "what have I told you about using that type of language?"

"Sorry mom," she apologised, "but he has my keys and I've got places to be."

"Krit give your sister her keys back." she mumbled reading an article over the top of her glasses perched on the tip of her nose but Krit continued to taunt his little sister.

"ERRR…Krit don't make me go Manticore on your behind!" Max snapped frustrated

"No super powers in the house," Gabrielle added casually, "We had to refurnish the dining room the last time you two were at each other's throats."

"Fine, just give me my keys and no one gets hurt!" if this carried on she was going to be late and that was no way to start her last term as a senior, there were only twenty two days of school left before the summer holidays, might as well make the effort.

"Krit…" his mother warned and he relented chucking the keys to their owner, who beamed

"No one rides my baby except me." Max smiled smacking her brother on the side of his head, behind her Gabrielle mumbled something which made Max turn

"It is not a death trap!" Max sighed, it was a never ending argument in their house about the safety of riding a motorcycle and Gabrielle's eternal view that they were made to kill and nothing else,

"Only when you're on it." Krit added earning himself another smack,

"I think you're an excellent rider." Rick added walking into the room and kissing Max good morning on the crown of her head

"Thank you daddy." Max smiled pulling her tongue at Krit as walking towards the door,

"At least wear a helmet niño" Gabrielle said

"Yeah, I will." Max called climbing the stairs, when she reached her room she found her boots and walked onto the balcony to see what the swell was like this morning. She loved watching the sea and the waves were perfect for surfing, with a sigh she pulled on her boots and strung them up. The view was part of the reason she loved her room so much, it just fit her to a tee, the carpet was black and so was the bedding on her four poster king size bed, the walls were a deep maroon and a black trial design that spelt out her name circled the room only disrupted by the black doors leading to her en suite bathroom, the balcony and back into the hall. The ceiling was black as well as the desk in the one corner, littered with paper, and the dressing table in the other, her walk in closet was what she liked to call an organised mess and the book shelf in the other corner was almost overflowing.

Before she left she gave herself a once over in the mirror, the black army boots and leather jacket clashed wildly with the navy blue plaid skirt, white blouse and navy blue sleeveless pull over but she pulled it off quite nicely, _The pros of being genetically engineered perfection I guess, _she thought bitterly as she flew down the stairs back pack in one hand ridding glasses in the other. She entered the garage and rolled her baby onto the gravel driveway, the black body work of her Kawasaki Ninja gleamed in the California sun. Her father got a custom paint job done in the body so that it had tiny spider's web graphics covering every inch of the chassis but the best part was on the gas tank written in white for every one to see was, 'TOUCH ME, YOU DIE'.

Max mounted her baby and felt at home with 600cc's of raw power between her legs, she put on her back pack and her ridding glasses, revved the engine a couple of times, then sped off down the drive way kicking up the gravel as she went. The roads were just filling with the morning traffic as she sped by ignoring the occasional wolf whistle that riding in a skirt produced; she always wore hot pants underneath it just in case she had to kick some ass.

Twenty minutes later she pulled into a parking and Harley High School stretched out in front of her, she thanked the gods there were only twenty two more days left of this place, it drove her up the wall. She slid gracefully off her baby and searched her pocket for some gum as she walked towards the picnic bench under the big oak tree to await her friends' arrival. She sat the popping her gum ignoring the tries various guys were making to get her attention, she shook her head sadly, _No matter whether they're freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors they just never learn. _

First to arrive was Original Cindy at Harley high on scholarship,

"Hey boo, what's caraklakin?" she smiled sitting down,

"The usual, I'm stuck in school when there is some killer surfing to be done at the beach, story of my life." Max sighed over dramatically

"Pull yourself together boo, only twenty two more days."

"And counting." Corrin added slumping down on the seat to the other side of Max,

"I don't know what you're all complaining about, I like school!"

Raz commented as she sat down on her usual spot on the grass

"That's because you're a freak Raz." Bailey, her brother added as him and Herbal joined her on the grass.

"Knowledge is the fruit of the mind, and food to soul, Jah speaks to I and I through the pages of a book." Herbal said his Jamaican accent strong

"That's because you and you is stoned half the time." Original Cindy observed and the whole group nodded their heads in agreement. but someone was missing. Heavy breathing behind her alerted her to the arrival of the seventh and final member of their group, he was one of the guys who just never learn.

"Sketchy!" Max said which made him jump, "When are you going to step to the real and accept the fact that you cant sneak up on me, and you never will."

"C'mon Max," he moaned, "how do you always know?"

"You want the truth?" she asked innocently

"Yeah, lay it on me."

"I can smell your cheap ass cologne a mile away." she smiled sweetly as everyone laughed.

For Max this was the only reason she came to school, so that she could see her friends everyday and what a bunch they were, first there was Original Cindy, straight out of Compton and as ghetto as they come, keeping it real with the down to earth truth. Next there was Corrin, 'the band geek', who plays a mean trumpet but who also kicks ass on playing field hockey.

Raz and Bailey were next, the identical twins with nothing in common but their looks and their birth day, Raz is the valedictorian and Bailey is the 'kid with potential to do more', Bailey's the jock with a football scholarship, Raz wouldn't know a football if it hit her in the head. Herbal, the Jamaican import who smoked weed and talks in rhyme, living life at his own pace. Last but not least there was Sketchy, the self proclaimed lady's man who would do anything for a quick buck.

"Max," Sketchy said casually, "There's a guy standing awfully close to you 'baby'"

Max turned her head so fast she almost gave her self whiplash and sure enough some idiot was hovering way too close to her baby for her liking. She got up and marched purposefully towards the fool intent on breaking his hand if he laid a finger on her bike, Sketchy and Original Cindy followed close behind her, Sketchy to watch some poor punk get beat down and Cindy to make sure the poor guy didn't get hurt too bad.

"Hey!" Max called as she reached the tar of the parking lot making the guy jump and look at her. She had to admit that he was good looking, his blonde hair stood in unruly spikes and behind his glasses were the bluest eye's she had ever seen, his strong jaw was lined with stubble and his athletic frame stood at a tall six foot, she was guessing. _It's a shame I have to kick his fine ass, _she thought with a mental shrug.

"You're either blind or stupid guy, what's the matter can't read?" the leather of her jacket squelched as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I can read just fine thank you," he smiled sweetly, "You must be the owner, I'm Logan…Logan Cale." He extended a hand politely

"I don't care if you're the Dalai Llama," she continued sweetly, "you touch my bike, I kick your ass, simple concept, understand?"

"Consider me warned." Logan threw his hands up in defeat but kept that amused grin on his face and his eyes fixed on the gorgeous girl in front of him, he didn't even notice the two people standing behind her until one spoke up.

"You must be new around here sugar, where you from?" Original Cindy asked

"Just transferred actually, I'm from Seattle originally."

"Well, welcome to the adolescent hell that is Harley High," Sketchy said pushing in front of the girls and offering his hand, "I'm Sketchy, this here is Original Cindy…"

"How ya doin sugar." She smiled

"And the chica over there with the possessive issues is Max." he finished shaking hands with Logan.

"What?" Max asked running a protective hand over her motorcycle, "No one but me touches my baby." Cindy rolled her eyes at the behaviour

"Don't worry," she assured Logan, "She'll be back down to earth in a second, come on sugar." She grabbed his hand and led him back up the hill to the oak tree where she introduced him to the others.

"Transferred? So late in the year?" Raz asked confused

"Yeah, Harley has a better scouting program than my old school, plus the principal is my godfather so he worked out the paper work." Logan said

"What sport you play?" Bailey asked doubting the scrawny guy's football potential.

"Basketball."

"Do you have your time table yet?" Raz asked ignoring the groan that erupted from her friends, Logan rummaged around in his bag for a couple of minutes before finally pulling out a slightly crumpled piece of paper and handing it to Raz. As she examined it a broad smile grew on her lips and it soon turned into a fit of giggles, she handed the paper to her brother who also began to laugh, the paper was passed on till every one but Max and Logan was laughing.

"What?" Max asked slightly irritated, in between her fits of laughter Original Cindy handed her the time table,

"Look familiar?" she asked before she collapsed with laughter as Max's jaw hit the floor. His time table was identical to hers and printed neatly at the bottom of the page was the name of the person Logan would be shadowing until he got to know the layout of the school: **Maxine Guevera**

"You've got to be shitting me!" she protested, "Why me?"

"Maxine I presume." Logan sang, that devastatingly sexy smile back in place making Max melt inside but on the outside she had better things to do today than play babysitter. Just then the bell for class rang and the group collected their things and walked towards the school building and wishing Max luck. With one final scowl in their direction she grabbed her bag and hopped off the bench, after a few steps she noticed he wasn't following her so she turned only to see him smiling at her again.

"Well, you coming or not?" she asked her hand on her hip

"Just admiring the view." He stated innocently, but the reference to her backside didn't go unnoticed, _Cocky little thing, isn't he!_ She waited for him to catch up to her before making her point,

"The same concept applies to me," she whispered getting so close to him he could feel her breath on his lips, "Touch me and I'll kick your ass."

"I'm a fast heeler." Logan replied decreasing the distance between them even more but still not touching her, there was some thing about this girl, she was special, he had to know more about her, as he was about to throw caution to the wind and grab her a rather annoying high pitched voice interrupted them.

"Miss Guevera shouldn't you be in home room?" Mrs Perkins asked

She stepped away from Logan grudgingly, the situation was about to get very interesting, this dude had guts, she had to give him that and she was very keen to find out where all this was going and what exactly she was going to do when it got there.

"Of course Mrs Perkins, I was just on my way there." With that she grabbed Logan's shirt and practically dragged him to room 104. She casually strolled in leaving Logan to follow in her wake,

"New student Mrs Leighman." Was all she offered as explanation before she took her place near the back of the class and Logan introduced himself, she had barely sat down before the first bell rang for class.

She popped her gum noisily as she made her way to her locker with Logan close behind her. He watched patiently as Max stuffed her leather jacket and back pack into her locker, extracting her history book and a pen which she tucked behind her ear.

"You have one of these yet?" she asked without looking at him

"Yup," he replied looking at his time table sheet again, "Number 283."

She rolled her eyes and let out a heavy sigh,

"Someone out there hates me!"

"What?" he asked confused, she tapped the locker to the left of hers where bold white numbers read 283 against the deep navy blue and he chuckled as he punched in his combination and deposited his bag.

"Looks like we're neighbours." He smiled

"Great!" Max mumbled as she stalked off towards history with Logan at her heels.


	3. the crisis

Since Logan was following Max for the day he was seated next to her in most of her classes and he just sat there silent the entire time paying rapped attention to what the teacher was saying, she had to give the guy credit, he was probably the only person alive that could sit through an entire lesson with Mr Jones with out falling asleep. Max watched him closely, his cocky attitude had dissolved and she had to admit she was a little disappointed was a little disappointed, it had been fun for the whole second it had lasted.

All this time Logan had been fighting to concentrate on anything besides the girl sitting next to him, the teacher, the black board, anything but her, tried and failed. He thought he felt her looking at him but didn't dare try to confirm his suspicions, the sudden bravado that he had possessed in their earlier conversation had dwindled into nothing and he now felt like kicking himself for acting like such an arrogant prick.

Lunch was a welcomed distraction and Logan found himself being directed to the table at the very centre of the room by Sketchy and Herbal as soon as he and Max entered the cafeteria, Max and OC soon joined them and the rest of the group carrying trays of food in their hands, Max carrying an extra one for Logan.

"Next time let the boy get his lunch first before you whisk him away." Max drawled as she dropped the red tray in front of Logan before straddling the chair to begin devouring her own lunch.

"Trust me, we did him a favour, I don't know how you guys can eat that sludge!" Sketchy argued in his defence

"Thank you." Logan said shocked at the gesture but Max just shrugged as she took another bite of her Sloppy Joe

"Thank OC" she mumbled around the mouthful

"Didn't want you to starve on account of these two idiots." OC interjected before Logan had a chance to transfer his thanks

"Max!" Corrin practically shrieked from halfway across the cafeteria causing a few people to look in their direction. Max simply looked up from her meal and waited for a rather harried looking Corrin to reach the table followed closely by the bulk of the field hockey team with similar harassed expressions.

"What?" Max asked curious as to what had her team mates so worried.

"This…" Corrin said shaking a piece of paper under Max's nose, Max grabbed it and read what was written on it. It was the list of stats for the State Field Hockey Championship, as the league stood the Harley Hawks were in first place and in close second were the Riverside Raptors which came as no surprise but in third was a team Max had never heard of.

"Who the hell are the Brisbane Bears?" she asked

"Some team from San Francisco," Corrin obliged her voice rising in panic with each word, "They were a late entry in the league but are undefeated in all of their matches."

"That good huh?" Max asked casually turning back to finish her lunch

"Max!" Corrin shrieked again surprised at how little this was disturbing the captain of their team, "If they beat the Raptors in the semi-finals it's going to be us against them for the championship Max!"

"So…" max offered

"So," Anita, the left back on the team, spoke up, "we have been practising set plays for the Raptors offence not the Bears; we don't know how they play."

"She's right Max," Natasha the centre back added, "We're flying blind here."

"You don't have to." Logan said causing eveyone to turn and look at him, unnoticed by the group he had pulled his laptop out of his bag and was reading something off the screen.

"What do you mean sugar?" asked OC

"I mean that according to Brisbane High's website, the hockey team trains on Wednesday nights." Logan clarified, "And it just so happens our basketball team is playing a friendly game against the Brisbane Bears tomorrow which just so happens to be…"

"a Wednesday night." Max finished for him smiling for the first time since he had met her and he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked with a smile on her face.

"I can't go to San Francisco on a school night." Corrin moaned miserably and her sentiments were echoed by the rest of the team

"It's all good," Max assured them, "Krit is on the basketball team, so I'll just tag along for 'moral support'"

"Yeah right!" Krit said appearing just behind his sister, "the only 'moral support' you ever gave me was a kick up the ass."

Max shrugged and swivelled in her chair to face him, "So how's about it little bro? You got enough room in that big 'ol jeep for little 'ol me?"

"Sure little sis," he smiled, "but your driving."

"Fair enough."

"I heard some guy's been following you around sis," Krit began playfully, fully aware of the new face in the group sitting across the table, "need any help kicking his ass?"

"Nope, just got a new shadow," Max said gesturing Logan, "Logan, meet my little brother Krit, Krit meet Logan."

"Logan, Logan Cale?" Krit asked, with a curt nod from Logan he offered his hand, "Coach sent me to find you, 'cause the game is tomorrow we get to ditch lessons for the rest of the day so we can show you the plays for tomorrow."

"Great." Logan beamed shaking Krit's hand noting the similarities between him and Max, same deep brown eyes and dark brown hair.

"Mind if I steal him for the rest of the day little sis?" Krit teased

"Be my guest, you gonna finish that?" she asked gesturing towards Logan's barley touched lunch.

"Nah, go ahead." He chuckled packing away his laptop and swinging his backpack over his shoulder as he stood up.

"See you at home Krit." Max said when the two boys said their good byes and walked off towards the gym chatting idly as they went.

"Your sister always so…" Logan began searching for the right word

"Bitchy?" Krit offered with a smirk

"Yeah."

"Always, ever since we were kids, she is real sweet most of the time."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you must have just rubbed her the wrong way, let me guess you hit on her, either that or you touched her baby."

"Well…" Logan said guiltily, "I kindda did both, kindda."

"Can't read?" Krit laughed

"She said the same thing." Logan mumbled under his breath

"I'm actually surprised you're still breathing," Krit said pushing the doors to the gym open, "She must like you."

"Yeah right." Logan retorted following Krit into the locker room to change for practise.


	4. just deserts

The bell sounded signalling the end of the day and salvation from a supremely boring history lesson, Mrs McKenzie was a sweet woman but boring as hell. Walking through the crowded halls Max heard someone calling for help, she turned to Original Cindy who had obviously not heard a thing because she was still talking about what she was going to wear to the barbeque this weekend, Max changed direction so suddenly it took OC a while to realise she was talking to no one.

Focusing onto the sound above the din of the crowd Max made her way towards the gym and the more deserted hallways of the east wing of the building, the source of the scream becoming visible as she rounded a corner. In front of her three big burley eleventh graders had a small ninth grade kid pinned up against some lockers.

"Pay up you runt, you're a week late with our allowance!" Walter spat, Max had caught these three shaking down a couple of ninth graders for their cash a few weeks back and had let them off with a warning, now she would have to teach the morons a lesson.

"My dad's been out of town," a small voice whimpered, "I'll have it for you tomorrow." the boy's attackers shifted slightly to reveal the whimpering boy being slammed against the lockers behind him, Max recognised the brown hair and blue cap that belonged to Sal, one of her good friends.

Max's arrival went unnoticed by the group and leaning casually against the lockers on the opposite side of the wall she made her presence known.

"What did I say was going to happen if I caught you terrorising kids again?" she asked casually. Walter spun round to face her, his cheeks flushed with anger

"I wouldn't know," he replied haughtily, "Don't listen to stupid little threats made by stupid little girls."

"Well that is a pity," Max replied idly rolling back her sleeves, "'cause if you had listened I wouldn't have to kick your ass."

"Ha! YOU kick MY ass!" he scoffed, "YOU and what army?"

"Trust me I could take your fat ass out without even breaking a sweat but as far as armies go why don't you try them on for size?" she smiled at him sweetly gesturing towards the entire basketball team who had just emerged from the gym. They stood there with their arms crossed staring Walter down, although he was bigger than a ninth grader each guy there was at least a head taller than him and he did not like his odds.

"I thought so," Max smiled again, taking his silence as surrender, "Sal, come here." The boy stepped gingerly out of the human wall that surrounded him to go stand next to max, then an idea hit her.

"Sal, you still got those permanent markers you always carry around?" she asked

"Yeah, why?" he asked perplexed

"Could I borrow them for a second?"

Before Walter knew what hit him, Max pinned him against the wall with her hand covering his mouth, she turned to his two companions while maintaining her hold on Walter

"Why don't you two show that you can function as individuals and get out of here? Now!" she snapped when they made no move to leave, they disappeared round the corner seconds later and she turned back to Walter

"The last time I warned you," she said casually uncapping one of the markers, "you didn't listen, so this time I hope you get the message, permanently!" Clearly across his forehead in bold block capitals she wrote BULLY in permanent marker and fight though he may he couldn't loosen her grip. When she was done she let him slide down the wall furiously trying to wipe off what was written on his forehead,

"Now Walter, if I EVER see or hear about you shaking down youngsters again," she told him walking towards the team and Sal who had joined them, "a little marker is going to be the least of your worries."

"You little…" Walter began, lunging for Max only to be blocked by Logan, Krit then most of the Basketball team. Logan grabbed Walter by his collar,

"That warning goes double for us, and I suggest you get out of here now before we pummel you for trying to hit a girl!" he hissed throwing Walter towards Krit who assumed Logan's previous hold on him,

"And if you EVER try and hurt my sister again, I'll break every bone in your body." Krit's tone was deadly serious as he shoved Walter down the hallway which his friends had escaped.

When Max emerged out the main entrance with Sal and the entire basketball team in tow Original Cindy rolled her eyes,

"Walter just passed me madder than a drag queen out of make-up, I take it that's your handy work boo?"

"You know my stuff." Max joked joining her friend on the hood of Krit's jeep

"Permanent marker?" Cindy asked casually

"Yep"

"You probably gonna get locked up for that shit"

"I know but I couldn't just let him bag on the young blood now could I?"

"True dat"

"If you two are quite finished can we go now?" Krit interrupted shooing the pair off his hood

"Yeah, aiight hot boy, take a chill." Cindy said climbing into the car

"Race ya home." Krit said playfully as he hoped in the driver's seat

"You're on!" Max replied straddling her baby, slipping on her riding glasses and gunning the engine. She gave the pair in the jeep a quick wink before she pulled off down the parking lot.

* * *

Update soon... 


	5. twenty questions

Max arrived home a good ten minutes before the others which gave her more than enough time to shed her school uniform, opting for a black tank top, white surfer shorts and a pair of black Nikes instead. By the time Krit and Original Cindy walked through the door Max was settled happily at the kitchen counter munching on a giant piece of chocolate cake. She looked up as they entered the room and only then noticed a third person trailing behind them.

"I don't know how you do it boo." Original Cindy began as she plopped down on the stool next to Max, retrieving the fork that had been left there for her

"Do what?" Max asked

"Eat so much and gain so little."

"Guess I'm just made that way." Max replied deadpan, only she and Krit knew how true that statement really was. Original Cindy was her best friend but telling a person that you're a genetically enhanced super soldier whose sole purpose was to kill wasn't exactly something you broadcasted and she wasn't about to ruin the best friendship she ever had over that tiny little detail. The alarm on Original Cindy's phone sounded snapping Max back to reality with a thud.

"Xena's on." OC smiled hopping off the stool, depositing her unused fork on the table before making her way towards the living room.

"Be there in a sec," Max called after her, "Can't let good cake go to waste."

"Aiight boo." OC mumbled as she exited the kitchen

"I'll just change quickly then we can start practising those plays," Krit said to Logan, "why don't you keep him company sis."

Max shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "I got to finish my cake anyway."

"Won't be long" Krit smiled before leaving the two alone in the kitchen. They sat in silence, Max happily devouring her cake and Logan searching for something constructive to say, a task that wasn't made easier by the movement of her fork to those full lips, a sight which had Logan transfixed.

A tiny thought managed to break through his dazed state, a question he had been meaning to ask and now seemed as good a time as any.

"Mind if I ask you a question?" he asked sweetly

"It's a free country." Max eyed him curiously he had that sexy smile on his face again, the smile that left her weak in the knees, suddenly the desert on her plate became very interesting and a welcomed refuge from those piercing blue eyes.

"Why do you and Krit call each other little brother and little sister, I mean one of you has to be older."

Not the question she was expecting but one she could answer truthfully enough, "When I was younger I always used to complain that everyone had a little brother or sister except me because I was the baby, so Krit said I could call him little brother and I have done ever since."

"Ah" Logan said as comprehension dawned and his smile grew, "One more thing…" he began not sure if Max was the twenty questions type

"What?" she said shovelling the last of the cake into her mouth and licking her fork clean, Logan barley contained the moan that threatened to escape at her actions which were driving him insane.

"Xena?" he quickly asked to mask his reaction, she raised an eyebrow at him, "you don't strike me as a big fan."

"I'm not," she answered truthfully, "Cindy don't got cable at her crib so everyday after school we watch it here, chill for a bit then I drive her home."

"On your bike?"

"In my car," she corrected, "My home girl doesn't have a death wish like some people know." She looked at him pointedly before turning to deposit her plate in the dish washer.

"Cool tattoo." He said noticing the barcode that lined the base of her neck, "I've seen it somewhere before."

Max stood rooted to the spot, she had completely forgotten to put concealer on it after she had changed out of her uniform which covered it when she was at school, her hair now up in a loose pony tail leaving her neck totally exposed for all to see. _That's what you get for thinking about chocolate cake when you're changing, _she thought angrily. Her mind raced for something to say, _He said he'd seen it some where, what if he knows? How could he he's the same age as me, just relax!_

"It was really popular at the place where I got it." She said turning towards him smiling to hide her concern. _Well, that is the truth, kind of._

To her relief he just shrugged and she could practically see the next question pop into his head

"So why Xena?"

Max for one was getting tired of the barrage of questions but answered all the same, "My boo's got a thing for medieval chicks in leather that kick ass." She replied simply

"So you mean Cindy's…well…" he searched for the right way to put this

"Original Cindy doesn't swing towards the male half of society." Max clarified for him with a smug smile pulling at her lips

"So are you…well…" Logan regretted saying that the moment it left his lips but his mind and his mouth seemed to be working by themselves all of a sudden, _I'm going to pay for that one._

Max stood there with a had on her hip staring him down, "And that concerns you how?" she asked her voice deadly quiet

"Just curious" He said crumbling underneath her intense gaze

"Not that it's any of your business but I'm straight."

Although the situation had gotten very awkward very fast Logan was relieved to hear it, he began to stammer out a lame ass apology but was saved from his futile attempts as Krit bounded back into the room.

"You ready to rumble?" he asked Logan, noticing the slightly distraught look on the other guy's face. He turned towards his sister who gave him and Logan a dirty look before exiting the kitchen to go join Original Cindy on the couch in the lounge. Krit knew that look all to well and he turned to Logan again with a smile on his face,

"What did you do?" he giggled, "Normally only I can make her that pissed off."

"Trust me you don't want to know."

"Today is really not your day man!"

Logan sighed following a still giggling Krit out of the kitchen door and to the basketball court in the back yard.

* * *

Update soon... 


	6. surprise surprise

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay, my coursework was piling up to rediculous amounts and all the deadlines seemed to be on the same day _Grrr_ Here's the next bit, thanks for all those who read and reviewed you have no idea how much it helps.

**Disclaimer: **Once again it's not mine. _Sigh! _It's theirs. _Moan! _I don't own anything. _Sob!_

* * *

_**The next day**_

The sound of the car horn echoed through the house as Krit wailed on it impatiently. Max bounced out the door five minutes later in sneakers, black jeans, a baby blue tank top and her leather jacket on.

"What could possibly take so long?" Krit asked annoyed

"I had to answer the phone if you must know," Max said, calmly climbing into the driver's seat and starting the engine, "Mom and Dad have to work late so it's just me and you bro."

"Yeah well can we get going or I'll miss half the game!" Krit replied still quite unhappy that the car was still not moving

"Relax; I'll get you there in no time." Max reassured sweetly, flashing her brother a quick smile before flooring the accelerator and speeding down the driveway.

True to her word Max got them to Brisbane High just after the Harley school bus pulled into the parking lot. Max wished her brother good luck before he jogged off to join the rest of his team who were slowly filtering into Brisbane High's gym. Hockey practice wasn't due to start for another half hour so Max settled herself among the fellow Harley supporters and awaited the start of the game. The Brisbane cheerleaders were out in full force providing pre-game entertainment but one of the girls, however, looked oddly familiar to Max. She was tall, blonde and fair but what bothered Max the most were her eyes, her clear green eyes, Max had seen them before. _Who is she? _Their eyes met and Max was a bit surprised to see the same look of recognition yet confusion on the other woman's face.

Before either of them had a chance to process another thought the two basketball teams were announced and the cheerleaders were shooed off the court for the start of the match. Max had to admit her brother had skills on the court and with Logan's help the Harley Hawks were leading by eight points in the first ten minutes but even a sweaty Logan couldn't hold her attention. _Where do I know her from? _Max asked herself _Or better yet, how does she know me? _The alarm on her pager went off snapping her out of her thoughts; it was time to put her stealth training into practice. She stood up and made her way to the door, scanning the room once more for that girl and not finding her Max gave her brother a quick nod before walking out the door in search of the hockey field.

It took her all but ten minutes to find the hockey team practising on a field at the very back of the school, her approach was unnoticed and she hid in the shadows behind the bleachers so she would stay that way. A few minutes' observation and Max could see why this team was undefeated, their defence was solid and their attack brutal, it was going to take a lot of work on Harley's part if they were going to beat them. Max drew in a heavy sigh when she thought of Corin's reaction to this news but the thought came screeching to a halt as Max felt a hand grab her shoulder. _Impossible! No one can sneak up on me! _

"You aren't aloud to be here." the unidentified female voice said calmly.

On impulse Max grabbed the offending hand and shifting her body weight, heaved its owner over her shoulder but instead of landing sprawled on the floor she landed gracefully on her feet and adopted the exact fighting stance that Max had just positioned herself into. The green eyes of the cheerleader from the gym flashed as she dodged the punch Max threw with practised ease. They exchanged punches blow for blow until Max got hit with a punch square on her jaw, she had to admit this girl was good too good. Max decided enough was enough and kicked the feet out from under the girl in one fluid motion. The sudden fall knocked the wind out of her and Max wasted no time in pinning the girl to the floor, she wanted answers and she wanted them now. Trapped underneath Max's body weight the girl struggled to free herself before she stopped suddenly, her green eyes searching Max's face before she offered a bright smile.

"I always did underestimate you Maxie." She beamed

The memory hit Max like a tonne of bricks, her mind swam back to Manticore and the combat practice they were forced to do on a daily basis. On one such occasion the colonel decided to pitch the biggest against the smallest just to see what would happen, Max being the smallest out of the girls was paired against X5-210. The rest of the unit watched as the two squared off, blocking and countering each attack with fine tuned accuracy until 210 got a lucky blow in that connected square to Max's head. Infuriated Max scooped 210's legs out from under her and used the loss in concentration to position her self on top of 210, using her body weight to make her stay down. Max looked down at those eyes, those green eyes, the eyes that belonged to her sister.

"Jondy?" Max asked unsure, not daring to get her hopes up too high

"I see you still have that temper of yours little sister" Jondy smiled as Max hurried off of her and offered a hand to help her up. Once standing the pair just looked at each other for a second before Jondy pulled her little sister into a tight hug, they pulled back to look at each other again.

"Well would you look at you!" Jondy whistled

"Same goes for you, Cheerleader!" Max replied playfully

"Ah, not a big fan of the sport then?"

"Nah, I prefer **real** sports like field hockey"

"So that's why your spying, your scared we're going to beat your butts in the finals." They might have been separated for eight years but both still remembered how to push the other's buttons and if there is one thing Jondy knew about Max was that she was the most competitive person on the face of the planet.

"Firstly, there isn't anything wrong with getting a bit of pre-game intelligence and secondly, I'm not scared." Max replied, she knew what Jondy was trying to do and at this moment in time she couldn't be happier about it, she had her sister back.

"Well if your basketball team is anything to go by, I wish you luck."

"What are you talking about? Krit is mopping the floor with your sorry bunch." Max smiled at the look on Jondy's face at the mention of Krit's name

"Krit's here too?" she asked sounding like a kid at Christmas. Grabbing Max's arm and hauling her back in the direction form which they just come. They strolled into the gym giggling and laughing as Max retold her episode with Walter from the previous day, the game was already in the fourth quarter and the Hawks were leading by twenty points, mainly thanks to Krit Max assumed. Although he was currently preoccupied with the big burley defender he was trying to get past, Krit noticed the return of his sister and her new found companion who looked oddly familiar to him. There was something about those eyes, he knew this person from somewhere.

He idly switched the ball from hand to hand just out of the defender's reach as he continued to ponder the identity of this girl, then suddenly it was as if the dam had broken and recognition came in an instant, a vivid picture of X5-209 flashed in his memory. The ball dropped from his fingers and all thoughts of the game were discarded as Krit walked off the court towards his sisters, much to the distress of his coach who quickly called a time out. The game drew to a standstill as all attention shifted to Krit's movement across the court, the crowds curious whispers began to fill the air. With a few quick steps he soon stood in front of the two smiling women with an uncertain lopsided smile of his own.

"Jondy?" he asked still unsure of what his gut told him to be true

"Hey, little brother." Jondy replied, her smile growing.

That was all the proof Krit needed and he quickly encircled his long lost sibling in a tight embrace, one that was eagerly retuned. They drew back to look at each other, for a second they were lost in the thrill of finding each other but reality came crashing back down on them as the referee's shrill whistle echoed around the gym and announced the continuation of the game. Krit looked over his shoulder at his agitated team mates, then turned towards his sisters again.

"I got to go finish slaughtering your team," he announced with a cocky grin, "we can catch up later right?"

"You go do your thing little bro." Jondy replied

Krit offered a quick smile before jogging back onto the court for the last five minutes of the game. Max and Jondy happily settled themselves on the bottom of one of the benches, effectively ignoring the stares they were receiving.

"Come back with us." Max began looking at her sister seriously

"I can't just up and leave, I've got friends here and I can't just miss school." Jondy had been expecting this and Max was never the most subtle of people so her frankness didn't surprise her.

"There are only twenty-one days left of school any way!" Max countered

"You're counting?" Jondy asked raising an eyebrow at her sister

"Never have liked school much, too routine for my tastes, reminds me of…well, you know."

"Yeah me too, but it's not as bad when you have good friends to see everyday."

"Like the red head that has been watching us like a hawk since we came in" Max noted

"Yeah, that's Kelly, she's cool." Jondy replied offering Kelly a quick smile which was weakly returned by her friend.

"OK fine, you can't come to stay," Max relented, "but how about a visit?" she wasn't about to let Jondy off so easy.

"I told you I got school, no grades, no college, it's as simple as that." Jondy eyed Max curiously, her eyes were glazed over and she seemed a million miles away, just staring into space, "Max! Hello? Any one home?"

Max snapped back into reality with a mischievous smirk on her face as the full time buzzer went and the sweaty winners celebrated their victory.

"How about you do both, come visit and go to school, we get taught the same things any way…" Max noted surveying the crowd that had flooded onto the court

"And just how are you going to manage that?"

"Never mind that but would you do it, for…let's say the next two weeks?" Max urged

"Fine." Jondy caved, Max had perfected the puppy dog pout over the years and Jondy was powerless against it.

Max let out an excited squeal as she gave her sister a quick hug before disappearing into the crowd. She pushed through various bodies searching for one hawk in particular. She jerked forward suddenly and was destined to a very hard and painfull meeting with the floor but to her surprise her progress was quickly stopped by a set of strong arms. Regaining her composure she cursed her shoelaces, the cause of the fall, before looking up into the blue eyes of her saviour. That sexy smile tugged at Logan's lips and his arms maintained his grip on her, his sweaty scent intoxicating her senses making her feel oddly light headed.

"Just the person I was looking for." She smiled letting herself revel in the feel of his arms around her for just an instant before regaining her composure and shrugging out of his embrace.

"Why were you looking for me?" he asked. His expression gave away nothing of the giddy feeling that was slowly engulfing him, if that was the only contact he would ever had with Max he would die a happy man and the fact that she had come looking for him was an added bonus.

"I need a favour…" she began shyly


	7. I'm all shook up

**A/N: **Thanks to my screwy wireless router this chapter was a bit delayed but a string of curses later I got it working so here it is folks

Another thanks to all who have read and reviewed, keep it coming

Still no beta and they're still not mine :(

* * *

_**Early Thursday evening**_

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Gabrielle said happily as she was introduced to Jondy a day later, "make yourself at home."

"Thank you Mrs Guevera, you have a beautiful home." Jondy replied with a smile of her own but Gabrielle dismissed her answer with a wave of her hand, "No need to be so formal here, call me Gabrielle, Rick will be home later, he's very excited to meet you,"

Gabrielle flashed another warm smile before turning to her daughter and adopting a more serious tone, "Do I want to know how you organised this little endeavour?"

"Chill mom, it wasn't anything illegal or nothing. Principal Evans is Logan's godfather so I asked Logan to ask him for a student exchange while Jondy asked her principal and when they said it was cool we organised for Susan Pike, who just so happens to have family in San Francisco, to go to Brisbane for the two weeks. So it's all good."

Gabrielle could only chuckle at her daughter's explanation, "Well, in that case, you can make up the guest bedroom for her Max."

"No need, we'll bunk together in my room, it's not like we're going to do much sleeping anyway," Max answered sweetly backing out of the room slowly to escape a further bombardment of questions that was bound to come next, her mother was a journalist after all, "we'll be up stairs if you need anything."

Half way down the hall her mother called after the pair. Max stopped let out a heavy sigh and turned to face the direction they had just come from, where Gabrielle had just come out of the door that lead to the kitchen.

"Make sure to pick up your dry cleaning, you're going to need something to wear for the wedding we're going to on Saturday."

"Who's wedding? Which Saturday?" Max asked carefully

"A company associate and this Saturday."

"Can't come, sorry, already got plans." Max dared, she knew if Gabrielle wanted her to go, she was going anyway but you couldn't lose a battle you didn't fight.

"Cancel them, you're coming to this wedding," Gabrielle answered calmly but in a tone that left no room for argument, "You can come if you'd like Jondy."

"No thank you, I don't do weddings" Jondy managed before erupting into a fit of giggles at the look on her sister's face, there weren't many people on this earth who could tell Max what to do.

"Fine!" Max grumbled before turning on her heel and storming off to her room with Jondy behind her trying to stifle her laughter, "Original Cindy is going to kill me."

"Who?"

"My best friend" she stated the simply as she lead on into her bedroom. Jondy let out a whistle of approval dumping her backpack in Max's closet as she explored the room.

"You like?" Max asked, amused at her sister

"I love!" Jondy cried as she noticed the view from the balcony, "Plus it's beech front! You must get some wicked swells." she noted with a jealous sigh

"You surf?" Max asked dumbfounded

"There's a lot you don't know about me little sister," Jondy observed

"I've got nothing but time." Max countered

Jondy flashed her sister a quick smile and came to join her on the foot of the bed. The hours passed as they talked, Max told Jondy just exactly how her and Krit escaped and how they were brought to stay with the Guevera's. Jondy hadn't been as lucky, after the escape she found her way to the highway and hitched a ride on a cargo truck which is how she eventually ended up in San Francisco. Alone, she had to fend for herself for a while which was no big problem but someone called social services and she was placed into foster care. She was bounced around from one foster home to the next and often found herself in very bad situations most of the time but she stuck it out scared to death of exposure.

When she was fifteen they sent her to stay with an old couple called the Wilson's who needed her as much as she needed them. Everything went good for a while, she got the scholarship to Brisbane High, she was making friends and had a home and what she considered family. That didn't last for long, the Wilson's died about two years later in a car accident and although they had left her all they had, nothing could fill the void that they left. She survived, it's what X5's were good at, it was how they were made, but you never forget and you never heal.

The two women talked, they laughed, they cried. Emotions ran high and the fact that both of them actually allowed them to show was a testament to how much each one trusted the other. Time seemed non-existent and since she and Jondy shared the same sleeping habits they could have gone on forever but at ten to ten a shrill ring tone erupted from Jondy's backpack.

Jondy slapped her forehead at her own forgetfulness, "Crap!" she exclaimed before crossing the room to retrieve her cell phone from her back pack, a quick check of the display confirmed her suspicions and she let out a groan before answering.

"Jondy!" the voice n the other end screeched, "Do you have any idea what time it is! Don't even have the decency to call a person, like you said you would I might add."

At Max's questioning look Jondy mouthed Kelly's name holding the phone a good ten inches away from her ear. Fifteen minutes passed and with no sign of the rant relenting Max began to get restless. The conversation had left her with loads to think about and she needed to get up and do something and the best thing to do at this hour was go for a jog on the beach. With a series of hand gestures she asked Jondy if she was going to join her, but her sister like wise replied that she should go ahead because this was going to take a lot of time and a lot of grovelling to fix. Max shrugged, she knew how Original Cindy got on such occasions plus needed some alone time with her thoughts, so Max laced up her sneakers.

With a quick wink at her sister Max hurled herself over the rail of the balcony and landed softly on the lawn below. It was a perfect night for a jog; the sea was calm the stars were out and a gentle breeze tickled lightly at her skin. The world around her was silent spare the sound of the waves lapping at the shore, as she ran harder and faster. The sense of calm that washed over her was brought to a crashing halt as her breathing became laboured and ragged and a tell tale tremor radiated from her core.

The seizure came on so quickly she was shaking uncontrollably before she even thought about reaching for the bottle of tryptophan tucked safely away in her pocket. She collapsed onto the soft white sand as the pain consumed her and the struggle to keep consciousness seemed to be a losing battle. The pain was fast becoming unbearable as she rolled onto her back fingers fumbling with the button on the pocket that held her salvation. She cursed herself for wearing that pair of shorts, for running so far away from home.

As she lay there convulsing she knew she had no hope, there was no energy in her to shout for help, not that it would matter anyway the only house around this area hadn't been lived in for years. _Who would have thought that with the amount of people I have gunning for me, this is the way that I would go! _She thought bitterly as her seizure grew but then everything went black as she succumbed to the constant pull of unconsciousness, darkness engulfed her and she thought no more.

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Okay, I know I know, I'm evil but this is why I've written the next chapter already, so hopefully I wont get too much of an ass kicking


	8. get bent

**A/N:** I actually used some of the actual dialogue from the Pilot in this, Go Me!! thanks to all the reveiwers, keeps me going (Sniff)

Still no beta, still not mine!!!

* * *

A muffled voice broke through the darkness, deep and comforting, dragging her forcefully back to a hazy consciousness. Her world was spinning and her head pounded, nothing made sense. Eyes shut against the pain that still echoed through her body, sleep claimed her as a welcomed refuge. 

Max awoke with a start some hours later, her head clear but more than a little confused, the last thing she remembered was lying on the beach and blacking out during her seizure. The fact that she was laying on a comfortable leather couch in a strange room, alone, didn't help situations much. The air hung thick with the aroma of roast lamb and hearing the tell tale sounds of movement coming from the other room made Max think she wasn't as alone as she thought she was. She sat up slowly noticing her sneakers had been removed and were sitting neatly next to the couch.

She looked around at the room's deep maroon walls cluttered, with various pieces of art and the big bay windows that faced the sea and decided that this was the house that was not as uninhabited as she thought. This was all way to weird for her liking, everything inside her screamed that she should just make a break for it, run as fast and as far as she could but her feline curiosity got the better of her and Max found herself creeping silently towards the sounds.

Through the door she found not the kitchen as she was expecting but a small office. The wall to her left was consumed by a massive cork notice board that stretched across its length, filled with various photographs, notes and newspaper articles._ Whoever lives here needs a life, _Max thought only to have her question answered when she turned towards the opposite wall. High-tech processors stood humming at either side of the wide oak desk that took up most of the room, on the desk sat three wide screen monitors. On the first ran the familiar rolling red, white and blue banner that belonged to Eyes Only. Eyes Only was a rogue cyber-journalist that occasionally disrupted a good TV show to rant and rave about some corrupt government official or some other self-righteous babble. As far as she was concerned he was just some whack rich dude sitting in a trick apartment bored stupid.

By the looks of the house she was half right but this just wasn't some dude, the next monitor showed a still shot of none other than Logan Cale. As if there was any doubt in her mind the third screen was the mixture of the first two that broadcasted across the nation, Logan Cale was eyes only. _Well, that's one mystery solved. _A loud crash from the next room tore Max's attention away from the screen and she crept silently towards the wall. Carefully she peeked around the partition to see Logan hovering from one end of the kitchen to the other gathering ingredients for some unknown concoction that he was mixing into a bowl on the counter.

Max was content to just stand there and watch him cook, he looked so calm and collected yet there was an underlying conviction to his actions. He worked away oblivious to her presence until Max's stomach announced her, the smell of the lamb making her realise how hungry she actually was. Logan jumped at the sound and looked up stunned to see her up and about so soon, the contents of the bowl abandoned on the counter as he approached her, concern etched into his features.

"You okay?" he asked

"I'm fine." Max countered, offering a nervous smile trying to hide the fact that she had no idea what was going on.

Logan still looked unconvinced, "You sure? You were shaking pretty bad when I found you."

"Found me?"

"Yeah," he continued, scrutinizing her every move to make sure she was fine, "I was staring out the window and noticed you jogging on the beach. When I saw you collapse I came out to see if you were okay and I found you shaking like that. I carried you up here and gave you your meds, well I had to dissolve them first and like force you to swallow but I managed. You were pretty touch and go for a while, I'm glad to see you on your feet."

His explanation was all well and good but something didn't feel right and she eyed him curiously, "How did you know?"

"About?" he asked, but Max was sure he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"My meds."

"Tryptophan," Logan began returning to his discarded bowl, "They sell the stuff in health food stores as an energy boost. It's also a neurotransmitter sometimes used in homeopathy to control seizures. Then the light bulb went on."

"Light bulb?" Max was starting to get a sinking feeling at the pit of her stomach, this guy knew way too much.

"A friend of mine is a big conspiracy nut, UFO's, mutants that kind of thing," Logan took a deep breath in not knowing how she was going to react to what he had to say, "a while back he got an anonymous tip about a covert genetics lab in the Wyoming mountains . . ." he stopped to gauge her reaction but saw nothing on her face that gave away a hint of recognition so he continued,

"We located a guy claiming to be a med tech on something called Project Manticore, which was using recombinant DNA to produce a superior human . . . a warrior . . . an advanced infantry soldier."

Max's mind was reeling, _SHIT!! What the hell am I going to do. He knows! He knows! Give nothing away and maybe I can just shrug it off. _A small voice in the back of her head shouted, _Yeah right! _

"Not that I don't enjoy a good urban legend now and then, but what does any of this have to do with me?"

"The bar code on your neck, Max. I know who you are and I know who you're running from. There were a couple dozen of these transgenic kids. And in '09, 12 of them escaped."

"Twelve?" the word slipped out before she could catch it but finding out that nine of her brothers and sisters were still out there had caught her off guard.

"I know you're one of those kids, Max." he said gently

"So when do the storm troopers bust in and put me back in a cage, Mr Eyes Only?" she fired back at him with the only thing she had left, she knew his secret and she wouldn't have any trouble exposing him if it kept her out and free. She would never go back. The look on his face told her that he had completely forgotten his computers were still on but his features soon relaxed into a warm smile.

"Relax, your secret is safe with me, Max. Plus you know mine so that makes us even."

"I guess…" Max still wasn't sure if she could trust him or not. The oven timer broke the awkward and uncomfortable silence that had settled between the two.

"Hungry?" Logan asked as he rounded the counter to extract the sizzling lamb out of the oven, they both chuckled nervously as Max's stomach growled in reply. Without a word he dished out two plates of food and placed one in front of Max who had settled herself on one of the stools that circled the counter. Max took one bite of her Lemon Roast Lamb and moaned in appreciation.

"This is off the chain!" she mumbled around another mouthful

"Glad you like it," Logan chuckled his own food barley touched.

"What?" Max asked when she noticed the look he was giving her

"Is Krit a transgenic?"

"Yeah, Jondy too," Max suddenly snapped upright, "Jondy! Shit! What time is it?"

Logan looked at his watch which read, "A quarter to one"

"Can I use your phone?"

"Sure, it's in the office"

Max sauntered into the next room and found the cordless phone sitting on the desk. She punched in the number she had memorised and on the second ring Jondy picked up the phone.

"_Where are you?" _

"Couple miles up the coast with a friend." Max replied just as shortly

"_Which friend?"_

"A friend!"

"_Fine, planning on coming back any time soon?"_

"Yeah, I'll be home in the next half hour."

"_See you then."_

"Late" Max hung up the phone and returned to the kitchen, reclaiming her seat in front of her half finished plate of food.

"Shouldn't you be asleep right around now?" Max asked noticing the yawn that Logan tried to hide.

"Shouldn't you?" he countered

"I don't sleep much," Max shrugged, "shark DNA or something, what's your excuse?"

"Work to be done, the stories don't make themselves you know." Logan was still uneasy knowing about her knowing his secret, only a handful of people knew about him being Eyes Only and they were the people he trusted with his life.

"That how you paid for all of this?"

"Nah, my folks were loaded." Max thought she saw a flicker of sadness cross his eyes but it was gone faster than it had appeared so she shrugged it off.

"Ah, so you just like the sound of your own voice."

"People get up every morning, work hard to try to make a better life for themselves only to have their lives dictated by a bunch of pompous windbags looking to make a quick buck. The government, the police everything intended to protect the people turned against them." Logan replied passionately

"Personally, I'm more interested in going fast on my motorcycle than giving myself a headache over stuff I can't do anything about."

"You accept the way things are and you're an active participant in making them worse." Logan's eyes flashed, his conviction evident in his tone

"And just what do you suggest I do about it?" she countered getting up to find her sneakers.

"Help me," he pleaded following her into the lounge, "with your training you can get into places I can't."

"Are you high?" Max spat as she pulled on her shoes, "I've got people looking to either put me in a cage for the rest of my life, turn me into a science project, or kill me. Probably all three. Now I've managed to drop off the radar screen and I plan to keep it that way."

"Max, hear me out."

"I've heard enough." With that she was out the door leaving it slamming in her wake. All Logan could do was stand at the window and watch her storm off into the dark night, school tomorrow was going to be something else.

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There you have it, hopefully I've redeemed my self from the last chapter. The next installment might be a while as school work has decided to harsh my creative mellow, AGAIN!!! but I promise to blow some of it off to update 


	9. tales of lives lived

**A/N:** Coursework has finally relented allowing me to post this but I must admit a minor vacation to Ireland might have also been a detering factor.

A big, HUGE thank you to my new found beta (Yay!!) Maria656 who has taken on the arduous task of correcting my punctuation and grammer, thank you! thank you! thank you! and to all those who reveiwed and those that just read thanks for sticking with it.

**Disclaimer: **This is the last time I'm going to say they're not mine (it hurts too much!!!)

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_**Friday afternoon…**_

"You aiight, Boo?" Original Cindy asked concerned, Max didn't normally pay that much attention in class, but today she was in a whole different world.

"Fine." Max replied, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.

"She's been like that ever since she came back from her jog yesterday," Jondy offered, turning in her chair to face the pair. The trio were nestled in the back corner of French class, the laborious translations that Mrs McKenzie was spouting not half as interesting as whatever had Max so distracted.

"I told you both I'm fine." Max said shortly, glaring at her sister and her best friend. This was Jondy's first day at Harley and she was fitting in perfectly; the teacher's loved her and she was an instant hit among Max's crew, especially Original Cindy. The two hit it off instantly; it was like they had known each other for years, not that Max minded but it had been two against one for most things, most of the day and it was starting to annoy her. Of course Jondy had to be introduced as Max's cousin to avoid suspicion.

"Can we just change the subject?" Max pleaded.

"Fine, on to bigger and better things," Cindy smiled. "What you wearing to the barbecue tomorrow, Boo?"

Max flinched at the words, bracing herself for the smack upside the head she was sure she was going to receive. "Um … yeah … about that," she began as Jondy erupted into another fit of giggles. "My mom is forcing me to go to some bum ass wedding."

"Nah Boo, you promised!" Cindy said sternly, wagging a well manicured finger, "Original Cindy ain't flying solo, that just ain't right!"

"You don't have to, Jondy ain't coming so you can chill with her."

"How bout it Boo?" Original Cindy asked Jondy while Max mimed 'please' behind her back.

"Sure, I had only planned to raid Max's DVD collection any way," Jondy replied. It wasn't Max's fault after all and Jondy had a sneaking suspicion that her sister was going to be in a world of hurt if she hadn't agreed.

"Well, I'm so glad you three managed to work that out," a new voice entered the conversation. The trio turned to see an obviously annoyed Mrs. McKenzie standing in front of them with her arms folded across her chest.

"Now if you could be so kind as to translate the passage that Paul has just read since you were paying so much attention."

A slow smirk played on the woman's face; she thought she had them cornered but how wrong she was. Max and Jondy exchanged a mischievous glance before picking up their textbooks and simultaneously translating each word of the paragraph to perfection. Manticore training had made them fluent in fifteen languages; they were going to be field operatives after all. They finished with a flourish to the applause of the rest of their class, disgust etched into the teacher's face. Her mouth opened and shut a couple of times but the bell for lunch sounded and Max, Jondy and Original Cindy were out the door before she thought of something to say. The girls chatted as they pushed their way through the crowds to the cafeteria and just as they entered the door someone tapped Max on the shoulder. She turned to see Logan standing there and by the look on his face he meant business.

"Original Cindy, get a sista some pizza and I'll meet you at the table." Max said over her shoulder, her eyes never leaving his. Jondy stayed rooted to the spot sizing Logan up, she had been introduced to all Max's friends except him and he might be trouble. Max nodded giving Jondy the OK, eliminating Logan as a threat or at least one she could handle and Jondy left without complaint.

"Haven't seen you all day," Logan whispered. "I'm starting to think you're avoiding me."

"Really? What gave you that idea?" Max replied in the same hushed tone, sarcasm dripping off every syllable.

"Well, you can't avoid me forever!"

"Just watch me!" Max spat as she turned to leave but Logan grabbed her arm. "If you want to keep that hand I suggest you let go of me," she hissed, staring him down, her face inches from his.

The fact that she could probably snap his neck in less than a second made itself blatantly clear, but all he could think about, was how much he just wanted to grab her and kiss her. _Whoa, where did that come from?_

"Fine, but we need to talk about this!" he countered.

"What's to talk about, you know who I am I know who you are - enough said."

"Not by a long shot, and I'm not letting this go." Some time during the conversation his voice had gotten louder so he dropped it to a whisper again. "Come to my place tonight, I'll even cook you dinner," he coaxed.

"Fine," she conceded, ending the conversation, not wanting to attract any more attention than they already had. Max turned on her heel and proceeded to walk to the table where her friends sat, all with the same questioning look on their faces. She ignored them, but as she sat down Jondy's hand connected with her head and Krit appeared at her side.

"What was that for?" she grumbled, glaring at Jondy, who with Krit's help dragged her up out of the cafeteria.

"A family issue," was all Jondy offered in explanation to the now baffled occupants of the table.

"He knows?!" Jondy hissed in a barely restrained whisper once they reached a deserted corridor, pinning Max against the wall, "How does he know? Did you tell him?!"

"Yeah Jondy, I really went up to a guy I met a few days ago and told him my deepest, darkest secret!" Max spat, struggling against Jondy's hold on her collar as Krit continued his nervous pacing. There were times when having revved up hearing paid off, he knew Max wouldn't have told them otherwise.

"So how does he know?" he asked.

"A friend of his knows a lab tech from the base who told him about us!" Jondy released her hold and stared at her sister, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Us? He knows about me and Krit too?"

"Yeah, but I got something on him so he's not going telling any time soon."

"This is tactical exposure Max," Jondy pointed out.

"I learnt the same things you did Jon. I'm fully aware that it's flipping tactical exposure! I'm handling it."

"I doubt dating the guy is the best answer." Krit added.

"It's not like that, it's not a date and I'm handling it okay Krit?"

"Fine, but I'm keeping an eye on him just in case."

"Do what you need to do, and I'll do what I need to do."

"Watch yourself Max," Jondy finally said in a more gentle tone. All three were unaware of the other set of ears listening intently to the conversation.

_**Logan's house that night…**_

Max stood outside Logan's door, a strange feeling in her stomach. She would have chalked it up to nerves but soldiers don't get nervous_. Keep your head in the game! s_he berated herself, straightening her shoulders and shrugging it off. She pulled the lock picking kit out of her pocket and began work on the door, it clicked open seconds later. Max was going for the stealthy approach; she didn't think it was necessary but it couldn't hurt to get some practise in, plus she wanted to see how high she could make him jump. She found Logan in his study, staring at his computers, the windows on screen flashing one after the other as he worked through them. She leaned casually against the wall and watched as his fingers flew elegantly across the keys.

"Hey," she said, smiling as he jumped. _Higher than I expected, _she mused.

"Hey," he replied as his heart rate returned to it's usual pace. "You really need to stop doing that!"

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Sneaking up on me."

"I thought you were expecting me?" Max countered with an amused grin.

"Yeah, but most people use doorbells."

"I'm not most people."

"I know," he said. Silence gripped them once more and the mood shifted into awkwardness.

"As much fun as this is," Max said, walking into the lounge and making herself comfortable on the couch, "I thought you wanted to talk?"

Logan settled himself in the arm chair opposite her and looked at her seriously. "I'm sorry," he said after a while. "I shouldn't of bombarded you like that, and I'm sorry."

"Damn straight," Max accepted. "Now how about that dinner I was promised?"

Logan looked at her. That was easier than he thought it would be, but he still had questions and she seemed ready to just shrug it off. He wasn't going to let her get out of it that easily. "How well do you remember the lab?" he asked unflinchingly.

"I remember fine. I just didn't understand what was going on. It took me a long time afterwards to figure things out." She let out a bitter laugh. "Thank goodness for television."

"How much do you know?"

"I know they made me. Even got the designer label on the back of my neck to prove it."

"Technical term for you is 'chimera'," he smiled.

"Yeah, made-up creature, like in mythology. Head of a lion, body of a goat. Your basic hodgepodge," she said distractedly, fumbling with a corner of her jacket.

"Hardly," he protested.

"Well, I'm one hungry hodgepodge, so do you plan on feeding me or is there something else you would like to ask me?

"I think I'm good. For now!" he smiled "How does pasta tricoloré sound?"

"Great, I'm starving."

He led the way into the kitchen and she took up her place from the night before and her plate was placed in front of her. Conversation was kept to safe topics like movies, music, and school at first before Max's curiosity got the better of her.

"What's your story?" Max asked as a bowl of vanilla ice cream was placed in front of her.

"What story?" Logan asked.

"You know everything about me, yet I know almost nothing about you. I mean there has to be a reason that you're the all powerful, all knowing Eyes Only," Max replied as she licked her spoon clean before diving in for another taste.

Logan had never seen someone with such appreciation for something as mediocre as ice cream. _But, _he thought, _if you grew up the way she did you probably learn to appreciate the little things a whole lot more._

"Fair is fair I guess," he said after a while, sure that her attention was more on the ice cream than him any way. "I was born in Seattle and lived there most of my life. My dad owned a big pharmaceutical company and my mom was a lawyer. When I was eleven my parents were murdered but the cops never caught their killer, and I promised myself that one day I would find him and make sure he got what was coming to him. I was sent to live with my aunt and uncle who were more interested in my parents' estate than my welfare. So it really bugged them that everything was left to me - my dad's shares in the company, the houses, the cars, everything - in a trust fund that would take effect the day I turned eighteen."

Logan paused avoiding Max's gaze, took a deep breath and continued,

"Because they couldn't touch it they made my life a living hell, so the day I turned eighteen I got out of there and came here. My godfather, Principal Evans, is my uncle on my mom's side and he helped me set up shop here, even transferred me to keep an eye on me. This was where we came on vacation when my dad wasn't busy with stuff in Seattle and most of my happiest memories are in this house," he finished sadly, still not daring to meet her eyes; she probably thought him a pathetic coward who missed his parents. When the minutes passed and she made no sound he looked up; she had a pensive look on her face, her spoon hanging from her mouth and she seemed lost in thought.

"That's why you started Eyes Only," she stated. "To find out what happened to your parents."

He had expected pity, but not understanding or interest. "Yeah," was the only meagre reply he could come up with.

"Did you ever figure it out?" she asked gently, not sure if she was crossing a line here or not. Logan seemed to steel himself to answer her.

"His name was Bruno Anselmo, a hit man for a guy named Edgar Sonrisa, owner of a rival pharmaceutical company. Turns out he was replacing some of his drugs with powdered sugar and selling the real stuff to off shore buyers at twice the price while millions died because the medication they were given wasn't working. My dad found out and he and my mom were building a case against him, until he found out and sent Bruno after them." Logan's voice broke as he finished.

"So did they get what they deserved?" Max asked.

"Oh, I made sure of that."

"So why did you carry on?"

"I realised that I wasn't the only one that bad things were happening to and I made it my mission to try and protect people from these things." A bit off passion returned to his voice and the sombre mood that had fallen lifted.

Something had happened, what they weren't sure of, but each one felt it. Both had let their defenses down long enough to let someone in and it felt good. It all boiled down to trust and they were both diving blind into the pool as far as the other one concerned. The roar of Jondy's 782cc engine alerted Max to her sister's arrival; Jondy had insisted that she come to check that things hadn't gone sideways. Logan walked Max outside, the pair happy they were parting on more pleasant terms. Jondy sat straddling her maroon Honda ZFR, a present from the Wilson's, parked next to Max's Ninja.

"We cool?" Jondy asked Logan as Max mounted her baby and put on her riding glasses.

Logan noted the leather jacket and lack of helmet, she and Max were definitely related. Must be an X5 thing, going fast on motorcycles.

"Yeah, we're cool," he smiled reassuringly.

That weird feeling claimed Max's stomach again, but since there was still no apparent reason for it she shoved it aside and started her baby. With a curt nod to Logan the two sisters raced down the road. None of them noticed that their every move was being watched from a high bough of the tree across the road; its occupant deathly still, silent, waiting, listening.

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For those of you that didn't notice I used some more of the transcript in here :) 

The next chapter should be up soon if that little thing called life doesnt interupt again


	10. black sheep

**_A/N:_** Sorry this took so long but both me and my beta have lives, so here's the next bit. Hope everyone likes it.

Thankyou to everyone who has and will reveiw. It helps a lot.

Big up to my beta Maria656 again, it would be really rubbish without her.

**_

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_**

**_Saturday night …_**

"Where is this thing anyway?" Max asked, annoyed that she was probably missing a bomb-ass barbeque to spend the night playing nice with a bunch of pompous, rich snobs with sticks up their asses.

With her revved up DNA she could fit in like she was born and bred among them, but being hit on by men old enough to be her grandfather wasn't her ideal way to spend her Saturday night. She was thankful they had missed the church service though; the whole deal was something people made up because they were too scared to die alone. It was phoney sentimentality and that's what got you killed.

"The lodge," her mother answered, not fazed in the slightest by Max's huff.

This was a fancy party if they were taking the limo, but it seemed to be just for appearance's sake since the lodge was only fifteen minutes away from their house. As the limo doors were opened by the waiting valet, Max stepped out gracefully, smoothing the wrinkles out of her dress. Krit followed straightening his bow tie and their parents were last, before the limo was swept away to make room for the next arrivals. Max had to give her boys credit; they both looked very suave in their tuxedos although her father looked really uncomfortable. He let out a string of curses in Spanish and was rewarded with a stiff nudge in the ribs by his wife.

"Quit, whining Rick, you're not the only one who's uncomfortable," she warned as she led the way up the stairs to the large oak doors that lead into the ballroom.

"But Gabi, you know I hate these things!" he moaned, sounding like a five year old.

At the top of the stairs, before she entered the doors, Gabrielle turned and looked at the three with a stern look on her face. Max and Krit were struggling to keep a straight face. "Rick, suck it up. Krit, no spiking anything and Max no fighting. No ifs, ands or buts either," she added before turning and plastering a smile on her face. "Game faces everybody."

Once inside they were greeted by various people who knew either Gabrielle or Rick and promises were made to find each other later on in the evening. An attendant made sure they found their seats at the designated table in order to get the speeches and toasts out of the way. The main table where the bride and groom sat was covered in white, as were the hundred other tables scattered around the room, each dusted with rose petals and seven tiered candlesticks that stretched out of the centrepiece. The couple looked so happy and in love, and for the first time it occurred to Max that she didn't even know whose wedding she was at.

"Mom, who's the happy couple?" she whispered as the speeches began.

"The bride is Marianne Summers – her father is a big time lawyer in New York and the groom is Bennett Cale. His father owns a manufacturing company but is more known for a pharmaceutical company he helped his brother set up."

It couldn't be; maybe it was just a coincidence. _Cale! Pharmaceutical company! It doesn't get any more coincidental. It still doesn't mean Logan is … _Her musings were brought to a grinding halt as the stocky and slightly boozed up man that had been speaking introduced the best man and handed the microphone over to Eyes Only himself, Logan Cale.

A sheen of sweat lined his brow and the hand which held his cue cards shook slightly; he was so nervous he didn't look up once throughout his whole speech which in itself was short and to the point; you could sense his relief as it came to a close. With the speeches over and the toasts made, it gave everyone a chance to leave their tables and roam the room. Max tailed her parents for a while, but soon grew tired of the mindless exchanges about the stock markets and the latest news story. Deciding she needed alcohol and lots of it, since it took at least triple the normal amount to get an X5 close to tipsy, Max made her way towards the bar, noting the stares she was getting but ignoring them diligently. Flying solo at a wedding was definitely risky business. As she approached the bar she noticed Logan perched on one of the stools being served what looked like his fourth shot of tequila - if the pile of glasses next to him was anything to go by. Max was just about to seek a reason as to why he was drowning his sorrows when Logan was approached by two couples.

"Logan, I'm glad to see you didn't piss yourself when you gave your speech," the tall guy with short brown hair teased maliciously. "That would have been tragic." His three companions laughed. Max doubted either of the women attached firmly to their partner's arm could even add two plus two but daddy was rich so who cared.

"At least they're teaching him to read at that public school," the thinner guy commented, and the haughty giggles erupted again. Logan downed his shot calmly and turned in his chair to face the group. "I'm glad you liked it Brent," he said deadpanned, "but I don't go to public school."

"Thank you for clearing that up," Brent sneered. "But tell me Logan, are there any girls at your school or did none of them want to come with a loser like you."

That was the last straw. Max sauntered towards Logan and gently grabbed his right shoulder, making him as well as his tormentors turn to look at her.

"Hey honey, sorry I'm late, my limo had a flat tire," she pouted, sounding out of breath and bending to give Logan a quick peck on the cheek. She paused by his ear as she pulled back to whisper, "Go along with it".

Not liking being ignored Brent cleared his throat loudly. "And you are?" he asked, not bothering to hide his inspection of her body.

"Busy," Max said simply, turning back to the bar and ordering herself a cherry cocktail. Logan still sat there with the same bewildered look on his face. _Honey? _

His mind was just having trouble taking in the fact that she was actually there and wearing that. The black dress hugged her perfect curves before it flared out at her hips into long pieces of seemingly ripped fabric that stopped just short of her knees. The collar stretched across neck line turning into off-the-shoulder long sleeves that flared at the cuff, but as far as Logan was concerned the best part about it was the back which left most of her back exposed descending in a glorious V-shape that stopped just past her waistline. The dress was complimented by the perfect pair of six inch heels and her hair was in a messy bun that let some curls loose with two stray strands framing her face.

Logan was in awe and idly noticed that she had covered up her barcode, when the power of speech returned to him the only thing he could manage was, "You clean up nice."

Before Max could reply Brent stepped in. "You better keep you woman in check, Logan," he snapped.

"Wouldn't dream of it!" Logan quipped, not even bothering to look at Brent as he said it. His mood had just improved and it was all because Max was standing next to him.

"Like, how rude!" the blonde hanging off of Brent's arm said, confirming Max's bimbo assumption.

"Wow, Barbie speaks!" Max exclaimed, a look of fascination crossing her features, "The wonders of modern science – did it come with batteries?"

Logan sniggered as Max continued to smile sweetly until they turned on their heels and left in a huff. Logan was practically crying with laughter and Max was happy to see a smile on his face. His laughter subsided and he looked at her seriously.

"They'll be back you know," he noted.

"I know." She smiled before taking a sip from her cocktail and taking a seat on the stool next to him. The bartender came and handed her a shot of tequila.

"On the house." He smiled at her questioning look. "It's about time someone showed these rich brats what's what."

Max accepted the glass willingly, downed it and turned to find Logan with his head on his folded arms on top of the bar. Max took in his dishevelled appearance and rubbed his back soothingly, thinking he had one too many. At her touch he shifted to look at her. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"For what?" she asked confused.

"My family," he said simply.

"That was family?" she said before she could catch herself, disbelief crossing her face.

"Yup, Brent and Byron Cale," Logan supplied sadly.

"If you hate them so much why are you here?"

"The groom, Bennett, is their brother, my cousin and the only one of them that isn't evil to the core, couldn't say no to being his best man. I think he only asked me to piss off his dad." Logan called for another shot which was diligently delivered and consumed; Max shook her head in disapproval.

"Drowning your sorrows won't help."

"What else would you suggest?"

"Dance with me." It was more an order than a suggestion.

"In front of everyone, I don't think so!"

"C'mon," she coaxed, jumping off her stool. "It'll be fun, take your mind off things."

"Well, with you in that dress no one is going to be looking at me."

"Exactly, and if I'm seen with you, I won't get hit on by every lonely guy in the joint." She smiled as he took her hand.

She fixed his bowtie, straightened his jacket and led him onto the dance floor where a slow classical song was being played. Logan led Max in a graceful waltz around the floor; holding her close was like a sick dream he never wanted to wake up from.

"What is this?" Max asked, looking up into his deep blue eyes having noticed Logan humming along.

"Valse Triste by Sibelius." Logan smiled at her pensive look even though she probably didn't know who Sibelius was.

The music surrounded them, oddly comforting, making it easy to lose yourself in the rhythm until nothing else existed except the two of them moving where the music guided them. Both ignored the little voice in the back of their heads that screamed for them to acknowledge how good it felt to be this close, it was after all only an innocent dance between friends.

"Oh dear," Gabrielle said as she watched her daughter and this young stranger glide from here to there.

"What?" Rick asked, curious.

"Look," said Gabrielle, pointing at the pair. "What do you see?

"Max…" he answered, still confused. "… Dancing! … with a boy ... I have never met!"

Gabrielle grabbed her husbands arm as he made a move to go and separate the two in all his fatherly glory.

"I don't think you want to do that," she said calmly.

"And why not?" The furrows in his brow deepened with confusion.

"Because, I do believe our daughter is smitten," Gabrielle observed.

"Mom, no one uses the word 'smitten' anymore," Krit provided as he returned to their table with the drinks he had gone to get. "It's just not cool, but saying Max has the hots for Logan would be more culturally acceptable."

"So that's Logan hey? That explains a lot."

"Not to me!" Rick said, frustrated that he was out of the loop.

"Here's the long and short of it Papi," Krit said, sitting next to his dad and leaning in close. "Max likes Logan and Logan likes Max – it's just that someone has forgotten to tell them that."

"How do you know Max likes him?" Rick asked, just because his daughter was dancing with the guy didn't mean she 'had the hots for him'.

Krit shook his head and chuckled. "He touched her bike and lived to tell about it."

"Wow," Rick said astonished.

"Yup," agreed Krit, his point made.

The last reverberating notes of Valse Triste brought Max and Logan's progress to a stop and reality came crashing in around them, but not before something neither of them were expecting happened. Max started purring, a deep throaty vibration that reverberated through Logan's chest making his knees go weak. A sly smile spread across his lips when he realised she didn't know what she was doing.

"Max…" he whispered softly, "Are you purring?"

The vibrations stopped as soon as they were mentioned and Max looked up, her brown eyes wide with shock. "I'm so sorry," she conceded, avoiding his gaze. "That happens sometimes, feline DNA and all."

Logan tightened his grip around her waist urging her eyes back to his and with a mischievous grin he said, "Do it again!"

"Easy there tiger, we've been through this," Max replied with a smile that matched his. "Besides, I can't. Don't know how it happens, just does."

"Interesting," he mused as they came to a halt, his good mood slowly shifting when he actually noticed the attention he was getting.

Being the gentleman he was, he offered Max his arm and led her off the dance floor and into the almost deserted foyer to seek refuge from the wide eyed scrutiny. Once free Logan let out a sigh and leaned heavily against the wall, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. Max stood next to him, waiting patiently for him to recollect himself and her ears prickled when part of a conversation reached her sensitive ears.

"…thinks he's so smart, him and his 'date'. How did that loser get with a stunner like her?"

"Probably paid her to come with him, I doubt she came by choice."

"Yeah, it's not like Logan hasn't got the money for it now that mommy and daddy's trust fund kicked in."

Max's anger began to rise as she realised that she and Logan were the topic of the conversation which was undoubtedly between Byron and Brent.

"Come to think of it," Byron added, "other than a dance and a peck on the cheek, she hardly touched him."

"Well, I'd be disgusted too if I were her, I mean look at him!"

The voices grew louder and were accompanied by footsteps coming down the hall to their left. _Disgusted! _Max was outraged. _That was pretty rich coming from that scum. Let's see what they make of this!_

Wordlessly Max grabbed the back of Logan's head, and pressed her lips to his. Logan stood there stunned, his back pushed up against the wall. Not about to question his luck he eagerly responded after the initial shock wore off. He was vaguely aware of two people entering the foyer but that idle thought was discarded as the taste of cherries blew his mind. Taking control he leaned forward then turned leaving Max with her back against the wall, her hands snaked around his neck. They might have been there minutes, hours, years, but Max finally pulled back and stopped his further attempts to claim her lips by placing two fingers on his. Brent and Byron were no where to be found, her father, however at the entrance to the ballroom his face crimson with rage.

"Daddy… your blood pressure," Max warned calmly, unrelenting under his fierce stare.

At the word 'Daddy' Logan hastily moved so that he wasn't pressing her up against the wall. Krit appeared chuckling at his father's side, every fibre of Max's being told her that he ratted on her and was now enjoying the murderous look on his father's face; she made a silent vow that he was going to pay.

"Krit, get your mother, we're leaving!" his voice was a restrained calm as he made the order his eyes never leaving his daughter. Five minutes later Max was being marched into the limo as her father spouted a lecture about his daughter the exhibitionist, one that lasted the journey home where the repercussions were set,

"You will never speak to that boy again!" Her father yelled in a tone of finality as Max retreated into her room.

* * *

no promises as to when the next one will be up but i will try my hardest to do it as soon as possible :)

thanks for reading :)


	11. answers

**_A/N: _**this chapter is sorta like a filler, so please forgive the lack of action, i promise there will be more exciting stuff in the next chapter which i hope to put up soon

as always a huge big up to my beta Maria656 and to all who reviewed :)

**_

* * *

_****_Monday morning…_**

Logan stood in front of his big bay window watching the waves crash against the shore with a bowl of cereal in his hands. His mind drifted back to Max and that kiss he had been able to think of little else all weekend. Still at a loss as to what sparked her reaction, Logan allowed himself to just feel very happy that it actually happened but that feeling was soon replaced with dread because of the trouble she was undoubtedly in with her father who had looked just about ready to murder something. This fact had haunted him since he had gotten home. He thought of calling her but thought better of it he thought of going over there but an image of Mr Guevara with a baseball bat always flashed through his mind. So reluctantly he had settled for seeing her on school on Monday, and now that Monday had arrived, he found himself eager just to see her face again.

He shovelled down the last of his corn flakes and discarded the empty bowl on the counter, grabbed his backpack and keys before leaving the house. He pulled up in the Harley parking lot already searching for signs of her, a small smile tugged at his lips when he saw her Ninja taking up an entire parking space. Logan let out a disheartened sigh when he found her sitting under the big oak surrounded by her crew. Knowing that he couldn't talk to her now he greeted everyone before finding a spot on the grass, Max seemed too caught up in her conversation with her girls to even notice Logan's arrival. Krit arrived said his greetings and joined Logan on the grass with a content smile on his lips.

" You have a gift my friend" he chuckled

"What are you talking about Krit?" Logan asked, not sure he actually wanted to hear the answer.

"You have not only perfected the art of pissing Max off but now my dad too! And in record time! I have to thank you – with him concentrating on what Max is doing he barely cares what I'm doing. It's great! Missed curfew by three hours yesterday and he didn't say a word" Krit stretched and lay back on the grass, his hands behind his head "Yup, life is good!"

"That makes one of us" Logan grunted as the bell rang and he shouldered his pack. Max was already halfway to the doors still surrounded by her girls, the same seemed true for most of the day for whenever he saw her she was engaged in a very serious-looking conversation which he dared not interrupt. He couldn't catch her at lunch either because since the Brisbane Bears had won their semi-final match it meant that Harley was definitely facing them in the final and Max had called for practice every lunch and after school until the match next week.

Defeated Logan plopped into a chair in study hall and pulled out his laptop determined to at least get some work done. He waited as his laptop booted up, idly scanning the library's occupants and to his surprise saw Max settled in the far corner behind a low shelf of books, a laptop open on the table in front of her. Jondy sat opposite her engrossed in a textbook one moment and writing furiously in a notebook the next. Jondy's presence eliminated any chance of a conversation with Max, or did it? His system up Logan used his considerable hacking skills to worm his way into the schools network and with a few keystrokes gained access to Max's instant messenger address. Grinning at his triumph he typed what he had longed to ask her all day

_Logan: So exactly how much trouble are you in because of me? _

Max stopped typing when a message window popped up out of nowhere she wasn't even logged on but a slow smile tugged at her lips when she read it. She looked around to see Logan, looking awfully pleased with himself, sitting at the other end of the library.

_Max: I'm not allowed to talk to you, my dad forbids it._

_Logan: Is it that bad? _

_Max: Nah, I'm just grounded, nothing I can't handle. Krit is lavishing every second of it._

_Logan: He told me_

_Max: He'll get what's coming to him_

_Logan: You need any help?_

_Max: I think I got it, thanks for the offer though._

_Logan: Mind if I ask you a question?_

_Max: You just did but since I'm in a generous mood you may ask another_

_Logan: How kind_

_Max: I thought so_

_Logan: Why did you kiss me? Don't get me wrong it wasn't bad or any thing but why?_

_Max: Because I wanted to teach those jackass cousins of yours a lesson._

_Logan: Care to elaborate?_

_Max: They were saying that you were such a loser that you paid me to come with you and that was the only reason that someone as pretty as me would ever be seen with you. So I heard them coming down the hallway and I decided to prove them wrong Unfortunately my dad decided on that moment to go take a leak and…well…you know the rest. Sorry for jumping you like that._

_Logan: No problem. _Logan felt torn, on the one hand Max had defended his honour in her own very unique way but on the other that was the only reason she even thought about it which meant the kiss probably meant nothing to Max. Some part of Logan reasoned that the prospect must not seem that outlandish to her if she had already kissed him so gathering his courage Logan decided that action had to be taken. What better way for them to bond than a mission for Eyes Only

_Logan: what are you doing tonight?_

_Max: Um…grounded…hello! I'll probably hit the hay early._

_Logan: I thought you didn't sleep?_

_Max: Your point?_

_Logan: How does a little breaking and entering sound?_

_Max: Illegal_

_Logan: Yeah, but it's a vital piece to this case I'm working on_

_Max: And?_

_Logan: and I'd really appreciate it - how about I make dinner afterwards?_

_Max: Sounding better…and Jondy is going to hang with Cindy since I can't…Is this guy like Satan's lap dog or something?_

_Logan: Pretty much_

_Max: Then I'm in, but just for the food._

_Logan: Great, be at my house at eleven._

_Max: I didn't hear a please._

_Logan: PLEASE????_

"Max!" Jondy hissed, raising her voice as high as she dared in the near silent room. Max looked over the top of the laptop to see her sister glaring at her.

"What?" Max asked whispering as well

"Could you tear yourself away from your undoubtedly fascinating conversation with Logan and help me with this please"

Max stared at her sister with wide eyes. She was sitting where Jondy couldn't see her screen so how did she know? "Who says I'm talking to any one?" she asked defensively

"Sister please!" Jondy rolled her eyes looking and sounding eerily like Original Cindy "The way you two have been swapping glances since he arrived, it's obvious you have the hots for him."

"No way, it ain't even like that, we're not like that!" Max retorted a bit too quickly.

"So why did you kiss him?" Jondy asked, an eyebrow raised as her sister's face paled.

"How did you know?"

"Krit told me."

If it was possible Max went even paler as a sickening thought ran through her mind. _Krit and Original Cindy were in the same art class at that very moment which probably meant that her fate was sealed and Cindy already knew. That gave her three minutes to escape._

Max slammed her laptop shut and shoved it into her backpack with the rest of her books, shouldering her pack she looked at Jondy seriously.

"We'll talk about this later, I'm going to practice, don't tell OC where I am."

Without waiting for an answer from Jondy she walked towards Logan who had likewise packed and gestured for him to follow her. He did so without complaint, but struggled to keep up with her as she wove in and out of the crowds heading for the training fields, masterfully avoiding the art corridor.

By the time the hockey field stretched out in front of them Logan's chest was heaving.

"And why are we running from Original Cindy?" Logan asked between breaths.

"Two reasons," Max replied breathing normally with an amused smile on her face "A-she'll be pissed off at me for not telling her sooner and B-she'll read way more into this than there is because in case you haven't noticed, I don't just go around kissing random guys."

"Why not?" Max raised an eyebrow at him "I mean it's not like you would be very short of offers."

"I have my reasons." was all she said on the subject. The rest of the field hockey team filed onto the field waiting for Max on the opposite side.

"I have to go, I'll be at your house at around half ten if the parentals take an early night. You better hurry so that you don't run into Original Cindy, she'll be on the warpath." As Logan reluctantly walked to the parking lot Max's words echoed through his head, _read way more into this than there is. _That settled it, they weren't like that and they would never be. he was just surprised at how much he wanted it to be true.

_**Logan's house 2 a.m**._

Max stood in front of Logan's heavy red wood door and prepared to pick the lock as she had done before but found the door unlocked. A small smile tugged at her lips knowing that he was expecting her. She was greeted with the smell of what was undoubtedly Chinese food as she silently stalked towards his study, where she found Logan sitting at his computers. His fingers lay still on the keys and he seemed a million miles away. _I wonder what he's thinking about._ With a loud thump she dropped the files she had retrieved for him on the desk snapping him back into reality.

He turned to her with that sexy grin on his face looking like the cat that caught the canary. "Any trouble?" he asked flipping through the manila folder's contents

"Nope," she shrugged "In and out before the guard changed. Now feed me, I'm starving!"

Wordlessly Logan got up and walked into the kitchen with Max right behind him. As the hour drew closer to three in the morning and Logan's yawns harder to stifle, Max decided she had better get going. Halfway down the hall Logan called after her and she turned at her name.

"Tomorrow, I could use some more help…you up for it?" He fumbled around his words and Max had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't what he wanted to say but shrugged it off.

"Listen Logan, tonight was fun and all, but don't think this is a permanent thing."

"Why not?"

"If I didn't make myself perfectly clear the last time we had this conversation, I'm not going around looking for trouble. I really don't know what made me say yes to this in the first place, but it isn't gonna happen again I can tell you that."

"You'd be helping a lot of people."

"Breaking the law on a daily basis, just so you can inflate your ego – I don't think so. I might as well paint a bull's-eye on my forehead."

"So you don't care about other people as long as you're life is a bed of roses!" He was yelling now and he knew it.

"You may know what I am but don't for one second think you know anything about my life!" Her voice was a deadly whisper. She shot him one final glare before walking out the door, slamming it in her wake

* * *

i know the argument was a bit repetative but it's for a reason i promise. Exams are coming so i might not be able to update soon but i will try my hardest.


	12. crash

**A/N:** sorry this took so long, exams are a real drag but summer is fast approaching so I hope to be updating faster.

as always respect to my beta and to all those who have reveiwed and are yet to. yay constructive critisism!

* * *

Max had a fool proof escape and evade plan for both Logan and Original Cindy ready by the time she entered the kitchen the following morning to find Krit and Jondy already downstairs. Her mother was pouring a cup of coffee dressed in a smart grey business suit and her father who was like wise smartly dressed sat at the table reading the paper while nursing his own cup of coffee. Aside from her parents state of dress something else was off in the Guevara household and it took Max all of three seconds to spot the two suitcases which stood waiting next to the door.

"Going somewhere?" Max asked as she sat and reached for the cereal.

"Nothing gets by you Maxie!" Krit quipped with a feigned look of surprise on his face. Max just chose to ignore him.

"The National Medical Institute's Genetics conference in New York…" her mother supplied in a tone that meant she should already know. "I told you about it last week."

"Yeah, right … I totally remembered," Max smiled sweetly, knowing she was fooling no one "So Daddy, does this mean I'm not grounded anymore?"

The tone of her voice was so wickedly sweet Jondy had to look up from her bowl of cereal just to make sure it was Max that had said it. Jondy was greeted with a full blown puppy pout which Max was directing at her father, who for his part was trying very hard to focus on his paper. His wife was silent, leaning against the counter with a knowing smile on her face, she knew daddy's little angel was about to get her way. Rick gave a mighty sigh and relented. Who could say no to that face?

"Fine, but Krit and Jondy are going to make sure you stay away from that Cale boy, am I understood?"

"Yes Sir!" Max, Jondy and Krit chimed in unison

"Now that we've got that sorted, we have to go" Gabrielle piped up discarding her now empty coffee cup on the counter before shooing her husband off his seat. She walked around the table placing a kiss on each person's forehead, before turning to grab her coat which lay waiting on her suitcase.

"We should be back in a week; numbers in New York are on the fridge along with money for take out. No parties, no fighting and Max, try not to kill your brother." With one final round of kisses for good measure from Gabrielle, they were out the door on their way to the airport.

"Well…" Krit beamed, "This week just keeps getting better and better."

"Speak for yourself" **g**rumbled Max.

"What's the matter Maxie, guy troubles?" Krit coaxed, knowing Max would take the bait she always did.

"You should know you caused most of them." Max was trying so hard to keep her temper in check but the cocky grin on his face didn't help the situation.

"I didn't tell you to suck Logan's face off in public** – **it's your own damn fault you got caught." He raised his arms up in mock surrender.

Jondy could tell this wasn't going to end well but was too late to stop Max from lunging across the table, dead set on choking the life out of their brother. Krit tried to move out of the way but was too late as Max came crashing down on top of him sending his chair flying backwards and his cereal bowl shattering against the floor.

"Argh, Max Gehtorff!" Max had Krit pinned face down on the hard wood floor before even he could react.

"Not until you take it back!"

"It's not my fault you've got the hots for Logan."

"We're not like that!"

"Sure whatever you say Max." He tried to move but she held him down with a bit more force than was necessary.

"It's true!"

"So why don't you want Original Cindy to know?"

"What's the point she already does."

"No, she doesn't, I didn't tell her, now get off!"

Max sat there for a second longer contemplating what he had just said before getting up and offering Krit a hand up which he took without objection. Jondy sat there silently letting them sort this out it had to be resolved and the sooner the better if it was just them in the household.

"Why didn't you?" Max asked honestly shocked that her brother didn't exploit tactical advantage over her.

"I wanted to, and I almost did but I figured you would have probably murdered me if I did and I have grown fond of living." Krit shrugged, blowing off the show of emotion like it was nothing but Max knew better, pulling her brother into a hug with a whispered thank you. Maybe today was going to be better than she thought at least she didn't have to avoid OC which was enough of a task to begin with.

**Harley High**

"Hey Boo" Max greeted as she plopped down on the grass next to Original Cindy.

"You aiight, Boo?" Original Cindy asked more out of habit than anything else, then she looked at the smile on Max's face and immediately got suspicious.

"Fine," Max beamed a lollipop clenched between her teeth "I'm not grounded anymore and the parentals are out of town for a week."

"So Boo, you hittin' Crash tonight? Me and Jondy made an appearance last night but it didn't feel the same with out my home girl."

"Most definitely, you know I never miss a chance to hangout with my chicas." Max smiled. Her grin only widened when she heard the conversation Jondy and Herbal were having.

"So you're saying," Jondy began slowly to make sure she got it right, "**t**hat it's all good, all the time"

"That's right my sister," Herbal replied patiently in his Jamaican monotone, "What we do is the will of the Most High, only Jah know and Jah is all good, all the time. Things happen for a reason and I and I know Jah has a plan, so it's all good, all the time."

"But there must be exceptions I mean … " Jondy was silenced when the bell rang.

Max wrapped an arm around her confused sister's shoulders as she passed her. "Don't worry about it Jon. You'll understand in time but for now just know, it's all good … "

"All the time" Original Cindy finished off as the group walked to home room.

Hockey practice cut through lunch but Max knew it had to be done. After what she saw of the Brisbane Bears her team had a long way to go and Friday was fast approaching. Their coach was off on maternity leave so that left Max, the captain of the team, in charge. The team at the moment wasnot too happy about their lunch times being axed and didn't hesitate to mention the fact every opportunity they got. Max didn't mind partly because she knew the practices were as good an excuse as any to avoid Logan. They were seemingly back to square one and right now she just wasn't in the mood for any more of his self-righteous babble about the greater good.

Practice ended and with a sigh she made her way towards the library for study hall where she found Jondy immersed in a thick Calculus text book. A quick sweep of the room showed no sign of Logan so Max collapsed into a chair and pulled out her laptop. Not five minutes had passed before her instant messenger opened on its own again and Logan made his presence known.

_Logan: I'm sorry._

_Max: You said that the last time and we both know that didn't last._

_Logan: At least you can't ignore me now._

_Max: Oh yes I can! Watch._

_Logan: Fine I'll talk._

_Logan: I was a jerk, again! And I'm sorry._

_Logan: I understand that helping me would put you in danger and I'm sorry for even suggesting it. It was selfish and it will never happen again._

_Logan: All I want is for us to be friends again, if we ever were. Whatever! Just please talk to me._

Max was caving and she knew it. Just a few words from him and she was caving. _Unbelievable! And you call yourself a soldier, Lydecker would be ashamed. _That thought brought a smile to her face.

_Max: You're forgiven, at least for now. Something tells me you're going to be a jerk in the near future._

_Logan: I will do everything in my power to prevent it but I can't make any promises. _

_Max: Good enough for me_

_Logan: How about I make it up to you. Dinner?…at my place?…tonight?_

_Max: Sounds good but I can't tonight. I'm going to Crash with the gang., You're welcome to tag along…_

_Logan: Nah, I got work to do._

_Max: Suit yourself, but don't think I'm forgetting about the dinner, I'm holding you to that._

_Logan: I suspected as much._

_Max: What's that supposed to mean?_

_Logan: Nothing, absolutely nothing._

_Max: Wise answer._

_**Crash 7p.m**_

"Crash", named for the dirt track on whose border it was situated, was a favourite haunt among the group who spent most of their afterschool hours there. The walls were lined with posters of various motor-cross legends and haphazardly placed televisions each showing a different sporting event. Most of the floor space was taken up by the bar that stretched across the room and what was left scattered tables and booths took up. Max and Jondy made their way trough the noisy crowd to find Sketchy, Herbal, Raz, Corrin, and Bailey in their usual booth in the corner. Original Cindy's absence didn't sit right with Max, but a new pitcher of beer and Sketchy's rendition of what was apparently a very stressful school day soon distracted her. Four games of pool later, Max and Jondy having wiped the floor with Sketchy and Bailey who of course screamed foul play, Max's thoughts drifted to Original Cindy once more.

"What's wrong Max?" Jondy asked noticing the frown creasing her sister's features.

"Just wondering where Original Cindy is it's not like her to be this late."

"Probably held up by traffic or something" Jondy offered, secretly trying to convince herself.

"Yeah … maybe," Max replied. It was a strong possibility and as good a reason as any for her best friend's absence "I just have a feeling, like … I don't know … I'm just being stupid." Max downed what was left in her glass before turning to look at Jondy who now had a worried expression on her face which was slightly pale.

"What?" Max asked that look was never good.

With the pretence of going to the bathroom Jondywalked Maxuntil they were out of earshot and sure they were alone.

"What Jondy? You're scaring me." Max spoke in hushed tones just to make sure no one would hear them.

"Remember what happened the last time you had a 'feeling'?" Jondy replied in kind.

Max thought for a second but once the memory came flooding back, she wished it back to the depths where she had buried it. "The night they took Jack" Max struggled through a suddenly dry throat. An image of two soldiers dragging away her nine year old brother in the dead of night flashed in front of her eyes but she fought it back it was just too painful. She had never seen Jack again.

"Exactly, and after that?" Jondy encouraged, knowing how hard this was to relive but she had to get her point across.

"The escape…just before Lydecker cornered us in that corridor…and shot Eva." A realisation that churned her stomach hit her like an eighteen wheeler. Original Cindy was in trouble, and Max knew it. "OC! I gotta blaze, she needs help"

Jondy laid a gentle hand on her sister's arm to stop Max's understandable dash to the door. "Max, you know I'm as anxious about this as you are but we can't just go storming to the rescue of someone we don't even know is in trouble yet." Max glared at her sister, every second that passed might be a second too late but saw the sense in her words. "Besides, we don't even know where she is. I suggest you phone her before we get ourselves all worked up."

_Phone, duh! Why didn't I think of that_ Max had her phone out of her pocket and was listening with increasing distress as each ring was left unanswered. _What if I'm too late and something already happened! _Relief flooded her when a slightly breathless **- **but still alive **- **Original Cindy finally picked up.

"Hey OC, where you at?" Max tried not to sound worried but thought she failed dismally.

"**Hey Boo, I can't talk, there's some serious shit going down and I need to get my ass out of dodge before they arrive."**

"Before who arrive**s**? What's happening OC?"

"**Marcus went and got himself involved with the wrong people now they're out for blood and if they don't get his, they'll settle for mine. My mom is working a double shift and is gonna meet me at my Uncle Cliff's crib. We should be safe there."**

"Who is it OC?" Max asked the faint sound of clothes being stuffed in a bag floating through the line.

"**MS-18****" **Cindy deadpanned, her feverish packing undisturbed.

"Shit" Max cursed.

Out of all the gangs in LA, MS-18 was the largest and most influential. They controlled the streets of Compton and were not people you wanted to cross. Max knew Original Cindy's brother was stupid but she didn't think he was that stupid. Before she had time to process another thought the sound of wood splintering, glass breaking and shots being fired came over the phone. For a second she feared the worst but another second later …

"**Where is he?" **a deep hollow voice demanded

"**He ain't here, I swear!"** Cindy replied, her voice shaking. That was all she heard before the line went dead. Max looked at Jondy in horror, knowing she had heard the entire conversation. Wordlessly Max turned and ran, shoving her way through the bar and out the door. Max had just climbed into her car when the passenger side door opened and Jondy got in.

"I don't need a chaperone Jondy, this ain't my first fight" Max said starting the car anyway, and pulling off none the less "I can handle this."

"You're my sister. That means your battles are mine as well besides Cindy is my home girl as well."

Max offered her sister a grateful smile before gunning the engine leaving only a cloud of dust in their wake as they sped towards Compton. Max put her Aston Martin through its paces, daring any cop to try and stop her today but that problem would be dealt with easily enough. No cop would follow where they were going. The cops were about as welcome as plague in Compton and were scared to venture too far into the neighbourhood, mainly because of the control MS-18 had over it. Still, her heart beat louder as she pushed the carfaster, the dread that gripped her stomach in an iron vice that increased with each passing second.

"I'm a generous man," he sneered, pacing the width of her front room, "So I'll give you one final chance. Tell us where your brother is!"

They had her cornered with her back against the far wall of her front room. Her front door lay in pieces on the floor and in front of it stood three giants of men, each with a gun in hand and covered with tattoos. Two seemed to be hired muscle, seen and not heard but the jackass who had been asking the same question for the past twenty minutes seemed to be running the show. With three guns pointed at her head she had lost all hope of escape and stood as proudly as she could.

"Go to hell." Original Cindy spat. If she was going to die she was not going out like a punk ass snitch, besides this interrogation was getting old, her answer wasn't going to change.

"You first," the jack-ass said with a smile, training his gun at her heart. All Original Cindy could hear was the steady beat of her heart as it pounded against her chest. She thought of her life, her family, her friends. She regretted the things she didn't do and some of the things she had. This was it. She closed her eyes and braced herself, the seconds passing like years in the darkness. There was a crash and a shot then nothing. Original Cindy opened her eyes to find the floor littered with glass from what had once been the front room window and standing in between her and her executioners were Max and Jondy. They both stood deathly still, fists held ready, their entire posture screaming that they were about to kick some ass.

"Move OC" Max said, her voice sounding hollow with restrained rage.

Original Cindy had never heard that tone before and although her mind raced with questions she did as she was told, taking cover behind the couch where she could still see what went down without being a target herself. The jackass fumed at the interruption but was amused at the reinforcements, two high school girls, he almost laughed.

"What do we have here," he smiled, wagging his gun at the pair, "Girl Scouts?"

"This is the only out you're gonna get. Walk away, Now!" Max said in that vacant tone.

From where she was Cindy could see both Jondy and Max's faces were cold, hard and set into enraged scowls. Every muscle was coiled for action and as Original Cindy studied the two women she saw a red stain stretching from Max's left side. Max was hurt but her face showed no recognition of it, like it wasn't even there.

"How sweet of you to offer but I don't think so. We're going to get to that bitch and its more fun for us to go through you."

Panic filled Original Cindy as guns were aimed at her friends. Max and Jondy however just shared a knowing look. If Original Cindy blinked she would have missed the movement both Max and Jondy made towards the guns. Nothing but blurs, they retrieved each weapon with a howl coming from its owner as their wrist were broken. Seconds later they were in their original position dismantling each hand gun with lightning speed.

"That's better," Max smiled "Guns make me nervous."

The jackass was getting so mad he was turning purple. Furious he ordered his muscle men forward to deal with these freaks the old fashioned way.

"This is going to be fun." Jondy smiled before jumping up and doing a roundhouse kick in mid-air, her heel connecting with her guys head sending him to the floor.

Before he got there however she came at him with a hard kick across the abs, sending him flying through the air into the wall where he landed unmoving in a crumpled pile.

Max started with a backwards somersault and her foot connected with her adversary's jaw which gave a sickening crack, undoubtedly broken. As he cried out and nursed his injury Max swept his feet out from under him and was up just as quickly to catch him in mid**-**air with a roundhouse to the back of his head sending him flying into the wall face first. He fell hard and stayed down unmoving. His two lackies disposed of Max and Jondy turned on the jackass whose face was now pale his eyes big and terrified. He did the only thing he could, turned and ran but before he had even taken two steps Jondy was in front of him, her arms crossed.

"You're not going anywhere" She sneered, green eyes flashing dangerously.

He threw a desperate punch but Jondy caught his fist and started squeezing. He shrank under the pain and was forced to his knees. Max came up behind him and delivered well placed punches to strategic pressure points immobilizing his entire body below the neck. She then came to stand by Jondy looking down at the now whimpering mess.

"You ever come near this family again and I will hunt you down and kill you. You tell whoever it was that sent you, I don't care if it was the boss himself, that if anything happens to them you'll have us to deal with." Max said leaning in dangerously close so that every word she said was clear."Understand?" He nodded his head the only thing that he could move.

"Say, I understand." she snapped

"I understand."

"Good … Jondy." On cue Jondy executed another roundhouse kick sending him flying backwards, landing spread**-**eagled on the glass**-**ridden floor. It was only then Original Cindy dared stand up and look around at her destroyed front room and the bodies that lay in it. She looked at the two women who shared another of their knowing looks before turning towards her. Max had hardly taken three steps when her legs gave in. On impulse she threw her hands out to stop herself from landing face first against the floor but in return felt various pieces of glass puncture her palmShe held back the cry of pain. Jondy was at her side instantly, helping her to her feet but Original Cindy kept her distance, not knowing what to think or do at that moment.

"Max what's wrong?" Jondy asked worriedly. Max lifted her blood**-**covered hand off her left side to expose the hole in her previously white tank top.

"You took the hit?" Jondy said almost irate

"It was me or Cindy" Max answered defensively in her weakened state.

"Be that as it may, what are we going to do? You're dad is out of town and you know we can't go to a hospital." A note of panic edged into Jondy's voice but she soon regained her composure.

"Of course we have to get her to a hospital, she's shot!" Original Cindy exclaimed having regained her voice.

"We can't!" the pair said in unison and Max sank a little more in Jondy's grip, the energy draining out of her.

"Logan." Max said, knowing if anyone could get her help and keep it on the down low it was him.

"Logan?" Cindy and Jondy chimed both confused.

"Logan," Max confirmed, "trust me."

"Fine, Logan it is. OC, I need your help" Jondy ordered more than asked looking up at Original Cindy. She could see the woman was torn Max was her best friend but the stuff she had seen tonight made her question if she had ever known her. Jondy could empathise with her but now was just not the time.

"Why Logan? Why can't we go to a hospital? What the hell was that kung-fu shit all about?" OC asked and those were just the first of the questions she needed answers to.

"Cindy" Jondy snapped, impatience showing, "I know how freaky this must be for you but this is neither the time nor the place. I got to get Max help before she loses more blood than she has already and I can't drive and put pressure on the wound at the same time. I could really use your help and so could she, but if you're not going to then you're just wasting time that she doesn't have to waste." Without waiting for an answer Jondy turned, still supporting Max and headed out the door to the Aston Martin parked outside. Jondy's words had hit Original Cindy hard she was right, now wasn't the time and she'd get her answers eventually. Right now, her Boo needed help. Original Cindy rushed after Jondy and helped get Max in the car and spread across the back seat. As Jondy climbed into the driver's seat Cindy settled on the back seat with Max's head on her lap, holding her sweater against her best friend's side. Max offered her a small smile before she passed out.

* * *

okay that's it I hope my fight thingy didn't suck too much. if it did let me know.


	13. creature comforts

**A/N:** I must admit I did get a little fluffy in this chapter but I couldnt help it ;) the voices in my head screamed fluff so I had to obey. I don't think I went too OOC and if I did I do apologise.

as always hats off to my beta Maria656

and a big, huge thank you for all my awsome reveiws keep 'em coming :)

* * *

The heart beat was steady, strong and loud as it pounded rhythmically in her ears, slowly drawing her back to consciousness. However as oddly comforting as it was it wasn't hers. Max forced her heavy eyelids open and was greeted by the Californian sun shining gloriously through the window of a bedroom that wasn't hers either. The deep red of the mahogany that lined the walls was enough to tell her that she was somewhere in Logan's house; his room, if the large bed she was in was anything to go by. Absentmindedly she noticed that her hands were bandaged and her side, though painful had been bandaged too. The heartbeat resounded in her ears and it was only then that she noticed the slight rise and fall of her pillow. She turned slightly to find her pillow was in fact Logan and she lay in between his legs, her head on his chest that continued it's rise and fall as he slept on. With his glasses off he looked younger and Max allowed herself just that brief moment to enjoy the feel of him so close. A tiny smile crossing her lips before she pushed the thoughts aside and tried to get up. Pain sliced at her side and she winced, waking Logan who immediately put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. 

"Sam said you shouldn't move around too much, you might open up your stitches," he said gently. Max had no energy to argue so flopped back against him, the movement draining her.

"Who's Sam?" she asked.

"Paramedic friend of mine; called in a favour when Jondy and Cindy pitched up last night with you."

"Where are they?"

"Jondy took Cindy to your house once they were sure you were okay. They said they'd stop by after school."

"School … shit …practice … I got to go." Max tried to get up again, but Logan held her in place.

"You're not going anywhere. Jondy said she'd cover practice for you since you're playing her school and excuse letters have already been written."

"Fine," Max yawned, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "But answer me this … why are you underneath me?"

"Because, you had lost so much blood you started seizing while Sam was trying to take the bullet out. We couldn't wait for the Tryptophan he gave you to kick in or the bullet might have damaged something we couldn't fix without surgery. So Jondy and I had to hold you down; Jondy held your legs and I was here while he took it out and stitched you up. Once it was done the Tryptophan took care of the seizures and you were asleep so I didn't want to disturb you."

"How considerate of you," Max replied sarcastically, glad that she had enough energy to do at least that.

"I thought so," he responded in kind.

"What about Cindy?"

"Jondy filled her in but I think you two need to talk."

"Yeah," Max sighed, knowing how difficult that conversation was going to be. "She deserves at least that much."

Logan shifted a little to grab the remote for the television and switch it on. He flicked through the channels until he found a movie, Resident Evil apparently. All he wanted was a distraction to keep his mind on anything other than Max practically in his lap and zombies were as good a distraction as any.

"You can get up if you want," Max said tiredly when she noticed him making himself comfortable.

"No thanks," Logan replied cheerily. He was certain this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and he was going to ride it till the end. Any other time she would probably have kicked his ass for getting this close, but he thanked God she was too tired to. She didn't say a word, and a few moments later her breathing grew steady as she went back to sleep. Unfortunately for Logan the call of nature cut his joy in half, try though he may to fight it. Gently he slid out from under Max and laid her head against the pillows instead, then sneaked away to the bathroom. On his return he found Max still asleep; she looked like an angel when she slept, not her usual strong, sarcastic, hard-ass façade she put up. For a moment he thought of reclaiming his earlier position, but the risk of disturbing her beautiful slumber was far too great, so he settled for simply sitting beside her. Resident Evil ran its course, but Logan didn't notice; he was too concerned with the woman next to him. A lock of her curly brown hair had fallen across her face and it took him a good ten minutes to gather enough courage to gently tuck it back behind her ear; something he dare not do when she was awake.

"Logan, what are you doing?" Max asked with her eyes still closed.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were awake."

"Obviously ... Logan?"

"Yeah Max?"

"You're hand is still on my face." Her eyes still weren't open but he was horrified to find out that she was right; his hand had stopped on its own and was resting gently on her cheek.

"Sorry," He said drawing it back and fixing the most evil stare he could muster at it. Max stretched carefully and opened her eyes.

"You have very uncomfortable pillows," she said, looking at him sternly, "but you could make it up to me with breakfast."

Logan looked down at his watch and smiled. "How about lunch?"

"Even better!" Max replied, slowly pulling herself further up the bed so she could lean against the headboard. When she was settled, she reached for the remote and began flicking through the channels. Having the distinct feeling he had been dismissed, Logan went to the kitchen to see what he could scrape together. Thirty minutes later he arrived with two steaming plates of grilled chicken, rice and steamed vegetables, much to Max's delight. Max found hanging out with Logan remarkably easy; when the food was finished and television got boring he pulled out an old chess set and sat cross-legged in front of her on the bed. They talked as they played about whatever came to mind, no matter how insignificant the topic. Even though Logan paid attention to the game at hand, to his dismay he was beaten ten times straight by Max, although he felt using genetically enhanced super powers was cheating.

The room became bathed in the oranges and pinks of dusk as the sun set over the ocean and Logan and Max's conversation was interrupted by his doorbell. Logan got up to answer it and for the first time that day noticed that he hadn't even showered or changed this morning. With a shrug he left, returning two minutes later leading Original Cindy into the room.

"I'll leave you two alone," he excused himself, heading out the door again. The two women sat in silence for a while, each refusing to meet the others gaze, until the silence became unbearable.

"Say something," Max pleaded.

"What am I supposed to say? I just found out my homegirl's not even human," OC replied.

"Mostly human ... I thought about telling you a million times, but ... I was afraid to."

"What, you didn't think you could trust me?"

"When you and I hooked up ... It was like, all of a sudden, there was this part of my life where I didn't have to be hiding or fighting or anything else except going to school and kicking it with my homegirl. I never had that before - a friend. I was scared that if I told you what was up it would all change. And that you would look at me like you are right now - like I was some kind of freak you didn't even recognize."

"Damn. All this time, I never knew." OC sighed and shook her head. Max could tell she was hurt, but she was there, that had to account for something.

"Is this going to change things?" Max asked softly, almost afraid of the answer.

"No doubt. No doubt. There's some issues here Original Cindy's got to think on." Those words cut through Max and the tears she had been fighting back flew freely and without shame. Original Cindy sat on the bed and pulled Max into a gentle hug, careful not to hurt her injury.

"You could have died biting that bullet for me, but you did it anyway 'cause you got my back. You're my Boo, for life, no matter what. Now let me see this barcode of yours." Max smiled and turned her neck towards Original Cindy. "Sugar, that's kinda hot, aiight?"

Original Cindy had to leave to go sort out her new place in a better neighbourhood, which she found with a little help from Logan and no one but she and her family knew about. Jondy and Krit came in after her just to check that their sister was alright; both promising to keep an eye on Cindy while they were helping move out of her old place. A light knock on the door pulled her out of her reverie, and Max looked up to see Logan carrying two plates of food into the room, depositing one on her lap.

"Is everything alright?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, it's all good," Max replied with her usual shrug, pretending to be more concerned with the pasta in her plate. Logan ate in silence, stealing an occasional glance at Max as he did so. He tried to stifle a yawn and failed miserably; he cursed all his late nights having to catch up with him now of all times. With a sigh he hefted himself off the bed to return their plates to the kitchen. When he came back he started rummaging around in his drawer for a new set of pyjamas to change into. He went to the bathroom to change and came back to find Max giving him an odd look.

"What?" He asked.

Max looked at him seriously, "If I'm in the bed, where are you going to sleep?"

"I'll crash on the couch."

"I can't let you do that, this is your house."

"You're not getting up, you just got shot," Logan replied as if he were talking to a five year old who refused to go to bed.

"I know, but still, the couch?"

"And what do you suggest I do?"

Max thought for a second before an amused smile tugged at her lips. "Share."

Logan looked at her for a second as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," Max smiled a little shocked at her own bravado. "It's a win, win situation. You get a comfy bed - I don't have to feel guilty about chasing you out of it. I'll be up most of the night any way."

"Well if you insist …" he smiled, "But I think I have a solution to you not sleeping." Logan stretched and opened the drawer of his bedside table. Out of it he pulled a vial and a syringe.

"A sedative," Logan offered at Max's look. "I told Sam about your insomnia and since we need to rest in order for the body to heal itself, he gave me this to give to you; we should have enough for a week or so."

Max chuckled. "You expect me to stay here for a week?"

"You just got shot," Logan replied shocked and just a little disappointed.

"So you keep telling me," Max smirked. "Listen Logan, I'm a genetically enhanced soldier. They made us to heal faster than most so that if we are hurt in operations we're not out of commission for long. Look." Max carefully unwrapped the bandage on her left hand and showed Logan her palm. What were previously deep gashes from where the glass had punctured her skin were now tiny thin scratches that crisscrossed her palm. Logan was amazed and turned her hand over a few times running gentle fingers along the wounds.

"That's amazing," Logan marvelled.

"I guess," Max shrugged. "I wouldn't object to a little down time though. Go ahead."

She rolled up her sleeve as Logan measured out the dosage in the syringe. They both watched at the clear liquid disappeared into her, her eyes slowly drooped shut as its effects kicked in and she slid further into the covers. Logan settled down next to her and was asleep soon after her.

* * *

Max could feel the sedative wearing off as thoughts of the previous days began to force their way into the pleasant nothingness that surrounded her. The wound on her side erupted with a new wave of pain as she shifted position, turning away from the blinding sun that filtered through the window. Logan was no where to be found, but the tell tale smells of French toast drifted into the room which confirmed his presence in the kitchen. Slowly, she hauled herself off the bed, her side protesting at the movement. Max stood on wobbly legs as they were suddenly burdened with carrying her weight again and continued shakily out the door and towards the kitchen. She was greeted with Logan's back as he worked on breakfast by the stove, dressed and clean shaven. 

"What time is it?" Max asked, her voice still raspy from sleep.

Her voice made Logan jump and look at her. Though his glasses were slightly clouded by the steam coming from the pan, Max could see he was worried about her being out of bed.

"I know you heal fast but even you shouldn't be walking around so soon," Logan said sternly, switching off the stove and walking towards her with every intention of marching her back to bed.

"What time is it?" she asked again.

Logan stopped directly in front of her and looked down at his watch, "Ten-thirty. Why?"

"I got an appointment at twelve," Max said simply.

"There's no way you're leaving this house in your condition," Logan replied, sounding a bit too much like her father for her own liking.

"Here's how it's gonna work," Max began, leaving no room for argument or objection. "I'm going to bum a shower, get dressed and I'm going to go to my appointment. You could try

and stop me, but even in my weakened state I can still kick your ass."

"Max you've lost a lot of blood; you're in no condition to drive!"

"Fine, since you're so worried about my 'condition', you can drive me there. Either way I'm going!"

Logan shook his head. He was between a rock and a hard place and he knew Max was going to do what she wanted, so he might as well make sure she didn't hurt herself in the process.

"I'll take you where ever you need to go," he relented, "But will you at least take the pain killers Sam left?"

"I don't do pain killers," Max replied turning to leave, "They make me drowsy, I don't like feeling drowsy."

"Suit yourself."

"You'd better not make me late," Max called over her shoulder as she made her way back to the bedroom and the clothes Jondy had brought over. Showering and changing while nursing a wound proved to be more difficult than she thought and her progress was slow. By the time she had laced up her boots a dull throbbing pain emanated from her side each time her heart pumped, but Max chose to ignore it as she made her way back to the kitchen. With an hour left till twelve, Max sat and ate the French toast Logan had left waiting in the oven, as he was busy checking the e-mails on the Informant Net just in case Eyes Only was needed.

"Mind if I ask where we're going?" Logan asked as he climbed into the driver's seat of his blue Range Rover Sport, watching Max climb in the passenger seat next to him. He could see she was in pain, but decided any comment would not be appreciated, so he kept quiet.

"You'll see when we get there," Max replied through clenched teeth.

* * *

Can't make any promises with the next chap so you'll know when I know but just to keep you stated it will include a new side of Max, the field hockey final and a new X5 makes an appearance ;) 


	14. bitter sweet victory

**_AN: I_**'m so sorry this took soooooooo long :( I moved house, went on holiday and my ISP decided to jerk me around so I was without internet access for like a month... it was horrible :( anyway here's the next chapter, hope you like it since it took so damn long to get here. I did get a bit sappy in this one though and be warned it continues in further chapters but I have my reasons as you will discover at a later date if my ISP behaves itself.

As always the biggest of hugest Thank you's to my beta Maria 656 and all my wonderfull reviewers

* * *

The ride was silent, only broken by the occasional directions Max gave him. She cursed when they ran into a traffic jam, muttering something about being late. The herd of traffic moved on and Logan was instructed to pull up in front of a house just as the clock struck ten past twelve. The house looked old but sturdy, grey cement steps leading to a wide porch that surrounded the front door. On the third step sat a miserable looking little girl, her navy blue baseball cap was pulled on backwards to reveal her light hazel eyes. Her waist length brown hair hung around her shoulders from the cap's brim and her black t-shirt had "Girls kick butt" scrawled across it in bright blue lettering. The outfit was finished by a pair of blue surfer shorts and some white sneakers that had seen better days. Wordlessly Max got out of the car, biting back a wince as she rounded the car. The moment the girl saw Max emerge, her melancholy demeanour shifted as a huge grin spread across her face and she ran towards Max. Max knelt down slowly so she was the same height as her ecstatic friend, holding a protective arm around her abdomen. What Logan saw next shocked him more than it should have; Max reached out and pulled the girl into a tight one armed squeeze before pulling back with a slight wince to look the little girl in the eye.

"Hey Tam, Mrs Daniels know you're out here?" Max smiled through the pain; if there was one thing Manticore had taught her was to ignore her pain, it was all in her head, just push it aside and move on.

"Yeah, I told her I'd be here waiting for you," Tamzin smiled, then turned serious remembering that she was supposed to be mad, "You're late; I thought you weren't coming."

"I know and I'm sorry Li'l Bit. Traffic was a nightmare."

"It's OK, you're here now," The little girl looked up at her and smiled, "Let's go." Without any prompting she grabbed Max's hand and dragged her to the car. Tamzin jumped in the back seat and secured herself with the seatbelt. When settled, Max noticed the questioning look Tamzin was giving Logan, who she seemed to have just noticed.

"Tamzin, say hello to Logan, he's a friend of mine." Turning to Logan she said, "Logan, this is Tamzin."

"Boyfriend?" Tamzin asked, making both Max and Logan's cheeks colour slightly.

"No, just a good friend," Max clarified.

"Nice to meet you Tamzin," Logan said, having nothing else to add to Max's reply.

"So what do you want to do today, Li'l Bit?" Max asked, deftly changing the subject.

"Oooo, can we go to the beach Max? Please? I got my stuff…" Tamzin patted the backpack that sat on the seat next to her.

"Sorry Tam, I fell and hurt myself so I'm on the injured list today. Wanna do something else? A movie maybe?"

"Yeah, sure…whatever…" Tamzin mumbled. One look in the rear-view mirror at the young girl's disheartened face and Logan's heart melted.

"How about a picnic on the beach?" he proposed; he used to do it all the time when he was a kid. Tamzin perked up and Max shot him a quizzical look. _Probably 'cause I mentioned food, _he quipped mentally.

"Really?" the young girl asked, eyes full of hope.

"Sure, we can pick up some burgers on our way and I'll be happy to take Max's place as lifeguard. Just for today of course!" he added.

No argument came from Tamzin, having got what she wanted, and Max gave in with her usual shrug.

After a quick stop at Burger King they drove to Max's house; everybody was at school leaving it empty. When they arrived, Tamzin wasted no time in bolting up the stairs to change into her swimming costume, then dashing back downstairs eager to head outside. Max had gone upstairs to change out of her jeans, boots and shirt and entered the kitchen to find Logan and Tamzin in fits of giggles, burgers waiting on the table next to three folded beach towels. Max, now in a white tank top, surfer shorts with black flames and a pair of flip flops, had to admit the sight of Logan's bare chest, all the way to the waist of the pair of Krit's swimming shorts she had given him to wear, wasn't exactly the worst sight in the world.

They made their way outside where a healthy lawn stretched in front of them for about a hundred meters or so before being severed by the white sand that eventually lead to the sparkling blue ocean. As suspected, the beach was deserted except for the lounge chairs that sat in a row looking out at the water. Max wasted no time in securing her favourite one, opening the umbrella attached to it and settling back down. Logan distributed their burgers before they got too cold and each person munched away happily, while Tamzin quite energetically told them about her day at school the day before. To pass the half hour it would take for their food to digest, Tamzin occupied herself by building a sand castle, close enough to the water that the sand was nice and wet but far enough so that the waves wouldn't wash it away. This meant Max and Logan could talk without fear of being heard, but the two simply sat watching the nine year old play. Max laid back, sunglasses obscuring her eyes, a gentle protective hand on her injury. Logan sighed from the chair next to her, and she rolled her eyes before lazily opening one in curiosity, not that he could see.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he lied. Max pushed her glasses down her nose and looked at Logan, saying nothing, just waiting.

"Fine," he relented. "I was wondering how you two hooked up. Tamzin's a great kid."

"Yeah, she is," Max replied, looking almost wistful as she remembered how she had met Tamzin about a year earlier. "I got into some trouble at school a while back and I was forced to do community service. They figured the best way for me to learn responsibility was to look after a kid, so they signed me up to be a 'Big Sister'. So I was placed with Tamzin; that house we fetched her from is a foster home. Her parent's dumped her there when she was three and she's nine now. We hit it off straight away and ever since, every Thursday, I go pick her up and we hang out for the day or the weekend, whatever." Max, with a small smile tugging at her lips as she watched Tamzin play.

"I gotta tell you Max, when you said you had an appointment this morning, this was the last thing I was expecting."

"Why?" Max asked, with a bit more venom than she intended. "Because I'm the stubborn, hard-ass soldier who doesn't give a shit about anything or anyone but herself?"

Logan hung his head. When she had refused to help him, he had indeed thought along those lines, but now he knew better. A day spent in her company made it clear that wasn't the case; she had just bitten a bullet for her best friend after all. He was about to tell her as much when she cut him off.

"Save it," she said sadly. "I care, I probably care too much and that's my problem. They always told us emotions were a weakness; beat it into our heads over and over about how dangerous emotional connections are. I care about my family and friends but the thing I care about most is being free to enjoy life with my friends and family," she paused to take a shaky breath, then continued. "People think I have the perfect life, parents that love me, a cool bunch of friends … money. Truth is, I'm always running. Constantly looking over my shoulder, waiting for the day they finally catch up with me and take away everything I care about."

"I wish there was something I could do," he said earnestly.

She offered him a weak smile. "This is something even the great Eyes Only can't fix."

"I'm sorry," he breathed. He wanted to tell her she was wrong, that everything was going to be alright, comfort her, but he knew nothing he could say or do would change what they both knew to be set in stone. They lapsed into silence, each lost in their own thoughts until Tamzin bounded towards them, her sand castle lying in ruins behind her.

"Is it half an hour yet?" she asked Logan sweetly.

"Only twenty-seven minutes," he replied looking at his watch. "But I think we can risk it. I'll race you there!" he exclaimed, running towards the water with Tamzin charging after him.

For hours they splashed and swam and raced and splashed some more, all under Max's watchful eye, just in case. The duo collapsed onto their chairs wet and exhausted, Logan's bare chest heaving with every breath he took.

"Max … " Tamzin said after a little while, as a thought suddenly popped into her head.

"Yeah, Li'l Bit?" Max promted.

"How will you play in the finals tomorrow if you're on the injured list?"

"Don't worry about me Tam, I'll be fine. It'll just hurt a little that's all."

"You're not seriously thinking of playing tomorrow?" Logan asked incredulously.

"And why not?" Max asked, calm as always.

"You know damn well why!"

"It'll be fine by tomorrow."

"And what if it's not?"

"Then that's a pity, 'cause I'm playing." Her voice was still calm and steady as Logan practically fumed.

"Then I'm coming to make sure you don't collapse!" he said sternly, sounding like an over protective parent. Max had a feeling that if it was anyone else she would have kicked their ass; after all, she didn't need a babysitter. But Logan was different; why, she had no idea. Regardless, she shrugged off his concern with her usual uninterested shrug.

"Whatever floats your boat."

The sun was setting by the time the group decided to return to the house. They found Jondy and Original Cindy already there; Krit was off taking full advantage of his parentless freedom with some random female Max was informed. Since Original Cindy was spending the night, Max decided to spend some down time with her girls. She thought she saw something like disappointment flash across Logan's features, but it was gone in an instant. _Not like he expected me to stay at his place forever. Get a grip girl! You're imagining things._ Logan left with a promise to get Tamzin home safely and a reminder that he was going to be there tomorrow. Then he was gone and Max braced herself for the affect his shirtless presence would have on Jondy and OC. _They always make such big deals out of these things._

Max, Jondy, and Original Cindy sat in the lounge watching their third consecutive movie. Instead of the outright barrage of questions and insinuations Max had expected, the pair filled her in on life at school and Sketchy's latest conquest. Sketchy, being his usual self, fell flat on his face and was drowning his sorrows in beer at Crash under Herbal's prophetic supervision. Eventually the subject turned, as Max had expected, to Logan.

"You two seem to be having fun," Jondy noted.

"And hot boy ain't that bad looking under the shirt neither," Original Cindy added. "For a fella, of course."

"Just what are you two trying to say?" Max asked, knowing what the answer would be.

"C'mon Sugar. Just admit you're feelin' him, ain't no shame in it." Cindy said.

"I'm not 'feelin' Logan, he's just a good friend."

"Uh-huh, sure. That's why he was your personal human pillow and you shared his bed with him two nights in a row." Max looked at Jondy, stunned, as did Cindy for that matter.

"I dropped by yesterday night to see if you needed company," Jondy explained with a hint of amusement in her voice. "And found the two of you sleeping quite peacefully in his bed."

"I felt bad about making him sleep on the couch," Max replied defensively. "We aren't like that."

"Uh-huh." Now it was Cindy's turn. "If you had seen the look on Hot Boy's face when we dragged you in all bloodied up. Like he wanted to hunt them playas down and kill them his own damn self."

Max was astonished. "Really?"

"Yeah," Jondy confirmed. "We know he likes you, we can tell by the way he looks at you. We also know you like him and you've only known the guy for a week. You've got to admit that's a first for you Maxie."

"Question is," asked Original Cindy in all seriousness. "What are you going to do about it?"

"What can I do?" Max asked in frustration.

"You could start with stepping up to the real and admitting it, or your little head is going to explode."

"Admitting what?"

"That you like him!" Jondy pushed smiling; she had never seen her sister so unsure of herself.

"Fine! I like him," Max relented. "Are you happy now?"

"Almost," Cindy said a wicked gleam in her eye.

"Almost?" Max asked uncertainly; that look never meant anything good.

"First you gotta tell me what you're going to do about it."

"That's easy, Nothing." Max said happily.

"Nothing?" Jondy exclaimed. "Why not?"

"I'm through with guys, Darren was the last straw."

"Darren was an asshole," Cindy reminded. "And you and me both know Logan is no asshole."

Although Jondy wanted to know who Darren was and what he had done to her sister, she could tell it was a touchy subject and this was neither the time nor the place. They sat in silence for a while before realization finally dawned on Original Cindy.

"Ah! I get it," she said. "You're just making excuses 'cause you're scared."

"No, I'm not!" Max answered, a bit too quickly.

"Oh yes you are, you're scared of getting hurt again. You're scared that if Logan gets to know the real you he won't like what he sees." Max hung her head and Jondy realized the other reasons behind it.

Although Logan knew what they were, he didn't know what they were capable of and Max had a right to be scared. Relationships were never a strong X5 trait; emotions were a weakness and you had to avoid emotional attachment at all costs. It was hard not to let their inner soldier control their lives, habits were hard to break, but Jondy knew this was too good for Max to let go. She put a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.

"Max, making excuses isn't going to change what's right in front of you. You know as well as I do all that emotional detachment crap they taught us is a bunch of bull. We know you and we love you, let someone else have the chance."

Max looked at Jondy, then at original Cindy, sighed heavily and gave in.

"What should I do?" Her sister and her best friend smiled.

"First you gotta tell him. I know he's gonna be at the game tomorrow …" Original Cindy said.

"Then the ball is in his court," Jondy finished.

"Tomorrow it is," Max announced, a nervous feeling already claiming a firm hold on her stomach.

**_Harley high the next day ..._**

The crowd filed into the bleachers and the field buzzed with conversation. Inside the changing room the Harley Hawks sat ready. One final practice during lunch had assured Max her team was ready for this. Jondy walked in wearing her Brisbane cheerleading uniform to wish everyone luck although she had to cheer for the other team. Not far behind her came Raz, Bailey, Herbal, Sketchy and Original Cindy.

"Good luck Boo," Original said, giving Max a quick hug.

"May Jah's grace shine upon you my sister," Herbal offered.

"Yeah, kick some ass Max!" Sketchy yelled, a bit too over enthusiastic. He gave the team what was supposed to be a smouldering, sexy look before striping of his shirt to reveal the words 'Harley Rocks' painted in the Harley navy blue across his chest.

"Thanks Sketch," Max giggled as he flexed his nonexistent muscles. "I had no idea you were such a big hockey fan."

"Are you kidding? Girls playing all rough, bumping into each other and getting all sweaty. My version of heaven," he smiled.

"I hate to break it to you Sketch," Raz smiled, figuring out why he was so excited. "But field hockey is a non-contact sport; you're thinking of ice hockey, Dude."

The disappointment was clear on his face as he turned wordlessly and walked out the door followed by the others who wished Max luck and left. Original Cindy and Jondy held back, and Max lead them off to the side for some privacy.

"He here yet?" The nerves she felt for the game were increasing knowing what she had to do after it.

"Haven't seen him Boo," OC said calmly.

"He'll be here. He said he would," Jondy reasoned, that was just going to have to do for now. "How are you?"

Max lifted her shirt to expose the clean white bandage on her abdomen. She gently pulled the tape away from her skin to expose her stitched up wound which was now just a horizontal slit.

"The stitches should hold," Jondy said as she examined the wound. "You sure you can play?"

"Yeah," Max nodded. "Just feels like someone's punched me in the gut. I can deal."

With an understanding nod the two women left, knowing there was no talking her out of it. The announcer's voice boomed from across the field; Max covered her injury, fixed her shirt and turned to her team smiling.

"We've worked hard, now it's time to play hard. This isn't going to be a walk over, so remember what we've practiced and play your hearts out. They're just another team and win or lose I'm proud of each and every one of you. Now, let's go kick some ass!"

With a roar they gathered their sticks and marched to the field where they were greeted with another roar of appreciation from the home crowd. The Brisbane Bears followed behind them, their black uniforms completing their daunting appearance. For now Logan was pushed out of Max's head, there were more important things to worry about. Each team took their positions on field staring each other down, the referee's shrill whistle blew and the battle of the titans began. Just as she thought, the Bears' defence was solid and their offence relentless, almost scoring twice in the first five minutes. Max however had planned for this, closing down certain strikers with well placed defenders and being just a little too fast for the Bear's defenders to stop. Very quickly each team had racked up three goals apiece which made both step up their already overworked defence.

Neither was willing to relent under the pressure, which fired up already fragile tempers. After an especially hard tackle that sent Corrin flying, Anita, the left back, protested only to be shoved by the unremorseful Brisbane player. From then on things started getting rough. Warnings were flying out of the referee's mouth as fast as she could give them; players were on the floor half the time. She had no choice but to let the game continue; the final had to be played and both teams were equally involved in the uproar. Dangerous balls flew into arms, legs and torsos with sickening thuds. A fist fight erupted after an illegal tackle by a Brisbane player, which Max had to physically break up and Anita got sent off as a result of it.

The half time whistle blew just as it seemed a riot was about to break out on the field. Max stalked off the field, her side throbbing from a hard ball that had bounced straight off her stick into her injury. A quick glance at the crowed revealed Logan who had a worried look on his face. That nervous feeling was back in full force, but his gaze left her when he had to answer his phone. He offered her an apologetic smile before setting of for the parking lot, talking hurriedly into his phone, brow knitted in concentration. Max couldn't decide if she was relieved or disappointed to see him leave. One final glance at his retreating figure and Max squared her shoulders to deal with her team. _Logan's going to have to wait. _She returned to the locker room to find her team looking like they had just come out of a bar brawl, each scowling with various bruises on various appendages. If she had anything inspirational left in her now would be the time.

"We're getting slaughtered," Loren, the midfielder, announced before Max could say anything.

"And we're almost out of substitutes," Corrin added sounding hopeless, "We can't keep this up, Max."

"You don't have to," Jondy's voice interrupted. She appeared from behind the lockers and moved to stand next to Max. The pair looked indomitable, Max having received barely a scratch in the on field altercations, "If you all step up to defence and leave me and Max as strikers, we'll take care of the rest."

A murmur spread through the team before Natasha voiced their opinion. "Thanks for the offer Jondy, but you're one of them".

"And they are playing dirty," Jondy replied calmly. "And I don't like dirty. It's your call, but the rules say nothing about an exchange student playing."

"You won't be too popular at school if you do this," Corrin noted.

"I'm graduating in a month, what do I care?"

"But only two strikers … you two sure you can pull this off?" Loren asked.

"Max?" Jondy urged, a knowing smile already on her face.

Max held out her fist and Jondy touched hers against Max's. A slow smile played on her lips. "Let's kick some Brisbane ass, Jon!"

A newly inspired team filed out of the changing room, their plans talked over and set in stone. Jondy held Max back. "I saw that hit you took," she said. "You up for this?"

Max looked at her sister and the concern in her eyes. She knew why Jondy had done what she had done. She wasn't in this alone, she never would be. "Hurts like a bitch!" Max smiled. "But not so much I can't make a few Bears cry. C'mon or they'll start without us."

If the Brisbane Bears were surprised to see smiles on the Hawks' faces as they filled onto the field again, they were blown away when they saw Jondy appear in full Harley kit. One of their cheerleaders playing for the opposing team? The confusion never ended as Harley clocked up two more goals not halfway through the second half. Desperate but futile measures were taken to try and get through the now impenetrable Harley defence, whose players constantly switched positions. Max and Jondy weaved effortlessly through the defence to put in three more goals which hammered the final nails into the Bears' coffin. Both Max and Jondy knew they could have got more but decided that the Bears had suffered enough. The final whistle blew accompanied by another roar from the crowd as they spilled onto the field to celebrate with the team. Max and Jondy were lifted into the air as the Harley school song was chorused around them. If Max's side was hurting she didn't notice as she was too caught up in the chant herself. When her feet found the ground her friends rushed to her side, jumping and smiling and singing.

"That was soooo much better than ice hockey!" Sketchy bellowed as he high-fived Max and Jondy who both had smiles plastered on their faces. As Max looked at each face a flicker of recognition floated through her glee and she searched the crowd for Logan's face; when she didn't see him her heart sank, but that's not what worried her. What worried her was the feeling that gripped her stomach, the same feeling she had about Eva, Jack and most recently, Original Cindy. Logan was in trouble; she knew it and she had to help him.

Learning from the last time, she took a calming breath and asked to borrow Raz's phone. When Logan didn't answer the dread set in once more. She ran to the parking lot, stopping briefly to return Raz's phone and tell Jondy that she had a feeling and to cover for her. Max straddled her baby, thanking every deity she knew of that she had been stubborn and rode it to school today. Max gunned the engine and sped towards Logan's house; it was as good a place as any to start searching.

She killed her engine when she found his Range Rover sitting in his driveway, the driver's side door swung open, his phone lying unchecked on the passenger seat. She walked cautiously towards the front door which stood ajar, but once she heard a gunshot fired from inside the house all caution was thrown to the wind as she sped into the house. In seconds she was in the living room but stopped dead when she was greeted with a man's leather-encased back facing her; clearly showing on the stranger's neck were the black lines that identified him as her eldest brother.

"Zack?" Max asked softly. As he shifted his position to face her, she saw the gun in his hand trained on Logan, who sat awkwardly against the wall, his face bruised, glasses missing and his arm sticking out in an odd position. Tearing her eyes away from Logan, the strangers green eyes confirmed that it definitely was Zack.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Her voice was harsh; all joy in finding her brother fading in the circumstances.

"Fixing your mistakes," he said simply.

* * *

dun dun dun, cliff hanger!!!!! which you probably hate me for but I will try my hardest to get the next bit up really fast. 


	15. the great escape

**A/N: **Hey sorry for the delay, but I'll spare you all the excuses. I might have gotten a bit OOC but I needed to vent a bit, so expect a supreme amount of cheesyness.

As always thanks to my beta and to all that reveiwed.

* * *

"Like this?" She spat, gesturing at his gun.

Max visually searched Logan desperately for a gunshot wound but found none. The broken vase to his left answered for the earlier shot and she breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"He knows, about us, about Manticore. He's a liability which needs to be dealt with." Zack's voice was hollow and serious. He had a mission that he had to complete.

"It's been dealt with!" Max argued, now enraged at her brother's behaviour. "He's not going to tell anybody."

"He's an Ordinary. How do you know he won't turn and rat us out to Manticore?"

"Because this 'Ordinary' saved my life, twice, and I trust him. That should be enough!" Max spat.

"You're too emotional Maxie. It's phoney sentimentality and it will get you killed. You put the others at risk."

"The others? You know where the others are?" Max asked. Zack remained silent. "Tell me!" she demanded.

"No," he spat. "You're getting sloppy, you and Krit and Jondy. Talking about Manticore where anyone can hear you. You risk tactical exposure over some Ordinary; getting yourself shot in the process."

"That 'Ordinary' is my best friend!" Max said with a malicious glint in her eye as she looked at her former CO. A realization suddenly hit her and Max walked towards her brother, rage growing. "It was you," she said quietly. "All this time. I thought I was being watched, but I just shrugged it off. All this time and you didn't have the decency to introduce yourself. Instead you try and kill my friends and refuse to tell me where my family is!"

"They're safer with you not knowing," he retorted, no hint of remorse in his voice or face as she stared him down, dangerously close to him. "That way when your so-called friends turn you in the others are safe. I did what I had to, just a few loose ends to tie up." Zack tightened his grip on his gun with renewed vigour and aimed at Logan's chest. With a burst of speed Max was in his line of fire, arms crossed across her chest.

"Move," he snapped.

"You'll have to kill me first," she replied cockily. "That solves both your problems. The 'Ordinary' is taken care of and I'm not around to screw up anymore!"

"Max, Move!" he hissed. "That's an order."

"This isn't Manticore Zack. You can't order me around like a good little soldier. That's why we left, but you're still there!" Max looked at the rage slowly build in his previously rock-hard expression. "Leave now before I make you!" Max hissed, eyes flashing.

Zack looked knowingly at where she had been shot and a slow overconfident smile tugged at his lips. "You don't stand a chance when you're still healing."

"You want to try me?" Max's stance told him she wasn't going to budge, and the hurt, disgusted yet determined look she was giving him made Zack lower his weapon.

"Fine, have it your way. I'm not going to be responsible for what happens to you."

"I never asked you to be," she snapped. "Leave Zack, and if you try to hurt my friends ever again, I swear you won't get the chance."

Zack replaced his 9mm in the holster hidden under his jacket, offered Max one final look of disappointment before wordlessly turning on his heel. Max stood ready for some sort of retaliation until she heard the door close with a soft click. She wasted no time in rushing to Logan's side laying a gentle hand on his face, the other moving to his neck to measure his pulse. Logan opened his eyes at the touch, his blue eyes meeting her brown.

"Logan what did he do to you?" Max whispered gently, as her hands searched the rest of him for broken bones.

"My shoulder," he gasped as her hand moved over his right shoulder.

Max frowned as she found not only a dislocated shoulder but a broken arm as well. "Logan, you've got a dislocated shoulder and I think your arm's broken as well. You need to get to a hospital," she said gently, the knowledge that this was all her fault weighing heavily on her.

"No!" he snapped, his eyes pleading with hers. "No hospital, Please!"

She looked at him worriedly. "But Logan, your shoulder needs to be set and …"

"You do it!" he interrupted, stifling a groan of pain very unsuccessfully. "Please, no hospital!"

Max had no choice; she could tell he wouldn't budge for whatever reason he had. She didn't want to press the subject when all he was thinking about was the pain, so she made him sit up, and as gently as she could, placed her hands in the correct positions.

"You know, I had something to tell you today …" Max began, looking at him again.

"Really? What?" Logan replied through clenched teeth, wondering why it now was so important to tell him this, but still curious as to what it was.

"That I really like you," Max said simply as she pushed on his shoulder and pulled on his arm. There was a crack and a pop as his shoulder slid back into place and Logan cried out in agony. After a few seconds he quieted, his breathing began to slow, and his jaw unclenched from the pain, which had now reduced considerably. Max retrieved his glasses and replaced them before returning to his shoulder, avoiding his eyes.

"Your shoulder's going to be fine but you need a cast on that arm," she mumbled distractedly.

"Max …" Logan urged.

"I could make up a splint but that would only be temporary," she continued.

"Max …" he tried again but with no luck.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" She still avoided his gaze.

"Max!" He finally got her attention. "Is that true or do you just delight in torturing me?"

"Both," her sarcastic reply lost its charm as a shy smile spread across her face.

Logan knew Max was a lot of things, but he'd never thought he would ever see her shy. "Since when?" he asked, his smile growing.

"Logan, your arm …" she began, but Logan would not let her avoid the subject.

"My arm can wait," he said firmly, even though he was still in obvious pain. "I want to know. I need to know Max. Please."

Max looked at him, wondering why this was so goddamn important. The fact of the matter however, was that he was in pain and she knew it so the sooner she got this over with the better. Plus she owed him the truth, and after what she had just caused he deserved it. "Since the day your stupid ass tried to lay a hand on my Baby." Max said and was rewarded with that sexy smile of his.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, shaking his head as he thought of what he had gone through since he met her. "And why did you tell me now?"

"I had planned to tell you today anyway, and they say it hurts less if you don't see it coming. Guess they're wrong." She shrugged with a mischievous smile on her face. "Besides it was one less thing I cared about that they could take away from me."

He tilted her chin to make her look at him. "I'm not going anywhere," he said matter-of-factly and her smile grew.

"Well, I plan on taking you to a hospital," Max joked, his words affecting her more than he would ever know. "You need x-rays done and a cast, Logan, and the sooner the better."

Logan's face fell, "I hate hospitals," he admitted. It was the last place he had seen his parents alive and each hospital had the same effect on him.

"I'll be right there with you," she soothed, running a finger around his bruised eye. "And we won't be there long, I swear."

Max saw Logan relax a bit and got up to find something to make a splint with, returning minutes later with a dish towel and two wooden poles from what Logan assumed used to be his broom. Max made fast work of his arm before checking the rest of him again for other injuries. Satisfied that his only other injuries were some bruises, a black eye and a split lip, Max helped Logan to his feet and to his car.

* * *

Logan sat behind a blue curtain in the emergency ward, looking down at the white plaster of Paris that now encased his entire forearm from just below his elbow to past his wrist and around his thumb. He tried to drown out the sound of the doctor's pages and the antiseptic smell that surrounded him. The only bright side was Max, who sat next to him on the bed, waiting with him for the doctor to come and discharge him. True to her word, she had never left him except during the x-ray and they had only been there a total of twenty minutes; thankfully it had been a quiet day in the ER. Logan snaked his right hand around her waist snapping her out of her reverie; he felt unsure of the contact but decided that he was through playing it safe, he had already kissed her after all. "Penny for your thoughts?" He urged as she turned to look at him.

"This was my fault," she sighed. "This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't met me."

"But I did, and I'd rather go through this twice than never meet you," He smiled even though he felt like kicking himself for being so over the top. He had only known Max for a little over a week and was spouting rubbish like a love sick puppy, but she captivated him.

Max was unconvinced. "Easy Casanova, we both know I caused this, besides the doctor's coming." Sure enough the curtain soon rippled and a doctor stepped through shutting it behind him.

"Mr Cale?" he asked and Logan nodded in confirmation. "Before I discharge you I have to go over a few things. Is that alright?"

"Sure Doc, fire away. The sooner I'm out of here the better," Logan smiled.

"Well first the obvious, keep your cast dry. Try putting a plastic bag over it when you shower or bathe so you don't wet it accidentally. Secondly, I advise that you hire someone to help you in the coming weeks."

"Got that covered, Doc," Max supplied; she had decided she would be helping him since it was her fault. This was all on her one-hundred percent, even if Logan begged to differ. She nonetheless avoided Logan's inquiring eyes as he looked at her in surprise.

"Very well. Try to keep your arm elevated, take your prescription, and if you experience loss of sensation call your doctor straight away. Other than that, you're free to go Mr Cale." The doctor ripped a piece of paper off his clip board, handed it to Max, and then exited the curtain.

Max helped Logan with his sling as a nurse pulled back the curtain and produced a wheelchair which Logan looked at repulsively.

"I'm not using that," he said simply, sliding off the bed and walking past it.

"Hospital policy," The nurse stated, but was rewarded with Logan's retreating back as he replaced his hold around Max's waist. He smiled when she didn't pull away.

They drove in silence for a while before Max finally spoke up. "I'm sorry," she said simply.

"I told you it's not your fault," he replied, shifting a little in his seat to look at her. "It's not your fault I knew about Manticore."

"Still, I feel responsible, that's why I'm staying with you whether you like it or not, but I warn you now I can't cook to save my life."

"Somehow I don't think your father would approve."

"Well, he'll just have to deal." Max smiled at the nervous look on Logan's face.

It was already dark by the time Max pulled up to her house. "Need a change of clothes," she explained as they got out of the car and to her surprise found both Krit and Jondy at home.

"Max, where have you been?" Jondy asked, immediately worried that she hadn't heard from her sister.

"Dude, you look like hell!" Krit whistled as he gave Logan a once over.

"Courtesy of our beloved brother Zack," Max began, then retold the entire story to her siblings who both nursed sour expressions by the end of it.

"I wish I was there to beat some sense into the meathead," Krit said angrily.

"You and me both," Logan chuckled, but was soon silenced by the stern looks he received from Max and Jondy.

"You think he's gonna try anything?" Jondy asked, motioning towards Logan.

"After today, I honestly and truly don't know," Max said sadly. "That's why I'm staying at Logan's as long as his arm is out of commission."

The two seemed to agree with her logic; Logan was safer with another X5 around. Max packed her bag and grabbed her sleeping bag, she threw both items on the back seat before she and Logan made their way back to his house.

Logan watched as Max organised her bed on his couch.

"Tomorrow we can clear all my junk out of the guest room," he yawned. "It's way more comfortable than the couch."

"No big dealio, you know I don't sleep much anyway." Max smiled as Logan yawned again. "You however, need to hit the sack."

"There's always the sedative you know," he offered.

"Thanks but no thanks; I've had enough sleep to last me a month."

She pushed him gently towards his room stopping at the door. "You need any help getting your PJs out?" she asked.

"No thank you, I can manage," Logan replied, a mischievous glint jumping into his eye. "How about a good night kiss?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe with his good shoulder and flashing his sexy smile.

"How about a cold shower?" Max suggested as she turned on her heel heading back towards the lounge.

"Spoil sport!" he called after her and she threw an amused smirk over her shoulder. If this is what happened whenever Zack decided to try and kill him, Logan made a mental note to get on his bad side more often.

* * *

Max decided staying with Logan wasn't exactly the worst thing in the world, and she found that her previously nonexistent cooking skills flourished under his direction. She had even managed a not too shabby roast chicken and rice with the help of his one handed supervision. Krit and Jondy, who spent most of their weekend over at Logan's place, were very surprised that they hadn't dropped dead after eating Max's cooking.

Max helped Logan when necessary and kept her distance with the smaller things, not wanting to bruise his delicate male ego, but one thing he was having trouble with was typing. This made it difficult to check the Informant Net for updates or cases and put Eyes Only out of action, something Logan couldn't allow to happen. So Max became his hands, her fingers executing each command he gave, allowing her access deep into Eyes Only which was a gesture he had never made. He trusted her wholeheartedly and even though he had only known her for a total of two weeks, he felt he'd known her forever.

As far as Logan was concerned, having a broken arm was the best thing that could have happened to him for the pure fact he got to spend more time with Max. She was moved to sit next to him and take his notes for almost every lesson, to which she would carry his books. During lunch she helped make sure he could eat something which meant they sat together during every Lunch break, and since Max was staying at his place they virtually spent the entire day together which was more than fine by him.

Following her confession Logan had felt a growing confidence around her that he put to the test everyday to gauge Max's reaction. He had no idea how Max felt about public displays of affection, but despite his reservations on Monday as they were walking down the crowded corridor Logan grabbed Max's hand. She shot him an amused look and had to withhold a chuckle at his behaviour.

"If you wanted to hold my hand all you had to do was ask, Logan." She said with an amused smile.

"Do you mind?" His former bravery vanished all of a sudden.

"No," she said still smiling, lacing his fingers with hers as they continued down the hall.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed however and many a stare was sent their way, but to both their surprise they really didn't care. Max's friends however hardly noted the change as if it had been the most obvious development between them. Max was sincerely grateful that they didn't hassle her except, of course, for Original Cindy who whispered a very smug "I told you so!" when she saw them together.

When Tuesday arrived, Logan stretched and slowly forced himself out of bed. He passed the newly cleaned out guest bedroom to find the bed empty and made with military precision. He idly wondered if he could bounce a penny off of the sheets as he continued to the lounge where he found Max sitting cross-legged on the couch, a bowl of cereal in one hand a spoon in the other. Even this early in the morning he marvelled at how stunning she looked even in a pair of boxers and a tank top.

"Morning." She smiled briefly taking her eyes off the screen to look at him.

"Need coffee before I can reach that level of perkiness at this hour," Logan mumbled shuffling into the kitchen to switch on the percolator. He returned with a mug in hand and sat next to her on the couch, taking a big sip from the steaming cup.

"Good Morning," He now greeted with a smile as the bitter brew slid down his throat. He liked having Max there, someone to wake up to. He didn't feel so alone any more.

They sat and watched the news in a companionable silence that they always seemed to slip into whenever there was a lull in conversation. The main headline was a high speed chase resulting in the driver's arrest. A girl that couldn't have been much older than Max and yet she had made it across most of LA in a stolen SUV with only the police helicopter managing to keep up until she slammed into a truck at an intersection. Some thoughts about it were shared before Max and Logan went their separate ways to get ready for school. They met up in the lounge half an hour later, Max deciding she would drive Logan to school in his car instead of taking her Ninja.

**Harley High 9am…**

Max and Logan sat at the back of the science classroom huddled over her lap top. They were supposed to be taking notes on the current lecture on plant classification Mr. Hankin was giving, but instead were deep in discussion about what was on the dinner menu that night.

"How does Paella sound?" Logan offered, making an overdramatic gesture at the screen to make it at least look like they were discussing the work.

"Never had it before," Max frowned, while typing exactly what Mr. Hankin said. "It good?"

"Yeah." Logan smiled. "Rice, seafood … how do you do that?"

"What?" Max asked innocently.

"Listen to Mr. Hankin and me at the same time?" Logan elaborated, clearly amazed.

"I can parallel process and multi-task like there's no tomorrow … " Her voice trailed off and the smile that had began to grow faded from her face as her nostrils flared and she looked up towards the front of the class. Logan followed her gaze to the front of the class to where none other than Zack stood talking to Mr. Hankin in a whisper.

"Max, Jondy, you're needed outside," their teacher announced before continuing with his lecture.

Logan looked at Max, who now had a scowl marring her perfect features, turning his attention to Jondy he saw the same expression mirrored on her face. The two shared a silent look before they headed out the door. Logan hoped he would never get those two as pissed off as they looked at that moment. Once both women got close enough they shoved him out the room. Max waited until the door clicked closed behind her before she rounded on her brother.

"What the hell do you think you're doing showing up here?" she hissed.

Zack remained silent as he and Jondy stared at each other, a look in her eyes Max had never seen before. Even as Jondy spoke it came out in a dead, hollow, hurt tone, things that Max had never associated with her sister.

"He wants something, no other reason he would be here. Spit it out Zack or get lost."

Knowing that Zack knew where her family was and wasn't telling her soured Jondy's reunion with her brother. Her family was the most important thing to her and he was the one thing standing in her way. She understood Zack felt that as their CO he was protecting them but that was at Manticore, this was now and he needed to let it go.

"Brin's in trouble," he said flatly, his blue eyes never leaving Jondy's green. "I need your help."

Max immediately became concerned. "What's wrong with Brin?"

"Did you happen to catch the news this morning?" Zack asked.

"The high speed chase?" Max gasped, her mouth hanging slightly open. "That was her?"

"Yeah," Zack said, running a weary hand over his face. "And it's only a matter of time before they figure it out. We need to get her out before they do."

"Where is she?" Jondy asked, a worried frown creasing her brow.

"They've got her locked up in Central. I would have got her myself but the place is the main minor charges, dispatch and holding precinct. In LA that means at least one hundred people at any given time."

"Logan's got a friend in the police force that could help us," Max said thoughtfully, turning on her heel to re-enter her classroom.

"No-way," Zack snapped. "We don't need that Ordinary's help."

"Ordinary?" Jondy asked, a warning tone in her voice that Zack obviously missed.

"One of them," he spat.

"When did they become the enemy?" Jondy asked, her voice growing louder as she did so.

"Since they made us into what we are," Zack yelled back.

"Look around Zack," Jondy made a swinging gesture at their surroundings. "These are not the people who did this to us. You can't blame them for something they don't even know exists. Now Logan is going to help whether you like it or not. Either way, we are going to save our sister, so you can either help us or get out of our way."

By the time she had finished Jondy's voice had dropped to a whisper and she was a hair's breath away from Zack, who amazingly stood his ground under her intense glare.

"Fine, but I don't trust him," Zack conceded, straightening his shoulders. Inwardly he tried desperately to fight feeling like a ten year old who just got told off for doing something bad.

"No one asked you to," Max shot bitterly, as she entered the class room and re-emerged a minute later with Logan in her wake. The two men looked at each other with a similar look of disgust on their faces.

"We need to find Krit," Zack said.

"He'll be in Spanish," Max offered but was reluctant to leave Logan with Zack so close by. As if she read her thoughts Jondy offered to go leaving Max, Logan, and Zack standing in the hall.

"I'll go get us out of school for today so it doesn't look like we ditched." Logan flashed Max a timid smile before heading down the hall towards the principal's office.

Max knew he had only done that to get away from the quickly mounting tension that surrounded them, but if anything it only grew with his departure. Max focused on the view outside the window instead of her brother's face, because if she did she would have probably ended up punching him. Somehow a display of Manticore athleticism in the middle of school didn't seem like a good idea, no matter how appealing the thought was.

"So you two dating?" Zack asked, not bothering to hide his disgust.

"If we were it would be none of your business!" Max spat, facing him.

"Of course it's my business, I'm your brother!" If he sounded hurt Max was too wound up to notice.

"My brother who tried to kill him!"

"He had it coming, if you had let …" He was stopped in his tracks as Max's hand flew to his throat faster than he could react. She then threw him roughly against the wall, winding him. Max leaned in close to his ear so that every word she said would be perfectly clear.

"You may be my Commanding Officer, Brother," she whispered the term of endearment like it was poison. "But you ever lay a hand on him again, I'll make you regret the day we ever escaped that hell on earth."

Zack's eyes bulged in anger as he tried in vain to break her hold on him.

"Understand?" she hissed, tightening her grip when she got no reply. "Say 'I understand'."

"I … understand," he choked out.

Krit and Jondy arrived just in time to see Max release her hold on Zack's throat and Logan return from the office.

"Glad we're all getting along," Krit quipped, getting a stern look from everyone except Logan, who was trying in vain smother a smile at the state of Krit's hair. His previously dark brown curls were now violently bright neon blue because as pay back for ratting her out to their father Max had switched his shampoo with hair dye.

"Let's get this over with," Zack grumbled, pushing past the others towards the doors.

Six hours later…

"Come in Black Ninja, what's your status?" Logan asked into the microphone sitting on his desk.

"In position," Max's voice replied into her comms, which looked exactly like a wireless Bluetooth headset to anyone looking hard enough. She sat in the waiting room of Central Precinct awaiting Detective Sung's arrival. Sung was Logan's inside guy in the police force and hopefully her alibi if things happened to go sideways.

"What about you Crouching Tiger?" Logan asked, a small smile on his face.

"In position," Jondy replied, crouching low on the roof near a rather large power box, dressed in the appropriate black and holding a pair of pliers.

"Please can I do this one?" Krit begged, grabbing the microphone from Logan.

"Go right ahead," Logan smirked as Krit held down the transmit button and plastered on the most serious face he could muster.

"Come in Mr. Grumpy pants," he managed before he erupted into laughter that carried through the microphone.

"Not funny Krit!" Zack snapped into his head set while he remained crouched behind a bush at the far side of the precinct. "Charges set."

Max had to stifle a chuckle at the exchange as Detective Sung walked in.

"Ms. Guevera." He smiled offering his hand. "What can I do for you?"

"Detective Sung," Max replied in kind shaking his hand. "I think I've been robbed," She almost wailed, getting the cop's attention.

"Okay people, we do this in t-minus five minutes. Black Ninja be advised that the prize is in the last cell on the left," Logan said calmly.

Max was putting on her best damsel in distress telling Matt Sung in vivid detail the events leading up to the supposed theft of her mother's jewellery box. She decided stupid bimbo was as convincing as it was gonna get if she was supposed to be a spoiled rich kid from Malibu.

"Jennifer was all like, 'Why don't you have a party while your parents are gone', and I was like, 'Totally awesome idea Jen'. Well Saturday came and the party was killer, spent most of it talking to Chad who is so totally hot and so wants to ask me to prom. So I like go to my parents room the next day to find my mom's gorgeous locket that goes perfect with this pair of shoes and Gucci dress that I have but it was like gone. Logan was a real peach and told me he had a friend who could help me out …"

"Five seconds," Logan warned. "Smoke 'em."

From his position Zack flipped a switch on the detonator in his hand that triggered the smoke bombs to go off. Slowly he got up, straightened and retreated to the front of the building to make sure their escape route was clear. "Fire has been stoked," he reported.

"Cutting security feed now," Jondy said after five minutes, as her pliers sliced through the red and blue cable that controlled the buildings surveillance system.

"Pop goes the weasel," Zack said as he flipped another switch then deposited the detonator back in his pocket. Behind him the corner of the building erupted in a cloud of dust, the thunderous boom that came with it echoing around the parking lot.

Both occupants of the waiting room jumped at the sound.

"What the?" Detective Sung said, confused. "Stay here I'm going to check what's going on." With that he left the room leaving behind a smiling Max behind.

The room soon stared filling with thick grey smoke that was flooding in through the vents. The fire alarm sounded and in less than a minute it became hard to see your hand in front of your face, better yet anything else, not that this was a problem for Max.

"I've disabled the sprinklers and you've got about ten minutes before the backup vents kick in and clear the place," Jondy told Max, having been busy cutting those cables once the vents had pumped all the smoke in.

"Plenty of time." Max smiled as she made her way out the door and towards the cells on the opposite side of the precinct. She had to dodge some cops groping around in the smoke for a clear path out of the building, but Max managed to reach the cells in under a minute. They were counting on this when they had devised the plan, people scrambling at the first sign of danger. When people thought there was trouble all preparatory plans went out the window and it was each man for himself. Avoiding the few police who had actually thought about evacuating the other prisoners, Max wasted no time in finding the last cell on the left and it's only occupant.

"What you say we get out of here, Brin?" Max smiled as Brin spun to face her, a murky shadow in the smoke.

"Max?" she asked carefully.

"The one and only." Max smiled tacking out the small pouch that contained her lock picks from her pocket. "Let's blow this joint."

The lock was more complicated than Max had thought, but even then it only took her a few seconds to get it to click open. Once the door screeched open Brin flung herself into Max's outstretched arms before wincing in pain at the movement.

"What?" Max asked, worried.

"Just some broken ribs from the accident." Brin shrugged as the two began making their way back towards the main lobby that Max had just crossed, still avoiding evacuating staff.

"That's what you get for slamming into an eighteen wheeler," Max joked as she lead the way. Brin was about to answer when the sound of Max's earpiece broke her concentration.

"Shit! Max, get out of there Now!" Zack's voice crackled.

"What? Why?" Max asked, already diverting from the front door where they were headed.

Zack just said one word, "Lydecker."

Max quickened her pace knowing that Brin had heard. Plan B was escape through the side entrance, but with Lydecker around it had to happen fast.

"Logan I'm flying blind here!" Max said hurriedly. "We're at the northeast wall just past the cells."

"Take the corridor thirty feet to your right, then take the last one on your left. Down the stairs and the door will be right in front of you," Logan replied, carefully looking at the blueprints in his lap. The pair followed his instructions and just rounded the left turn when the vents whirred into life and the smoke began to clear.

"Max, get out of there!" Zack hissed as he watched three more black hummers pull up and three TAC teams begin to spill out of them. Lydecker shot off some orders before they flooded the building each wearing full gas masks.

Max and Brin arrived at the door only to find it locked, but a quick inspection of it showed it hadn't been used in some time; the lock was worn and the hinges rusty. The two sisters smiled before both backing up then simultaneously aiming a kick at the door, sending the hinges popping out of the sockets and the door in splinters on the floor. The door led out into a deserted impound lot that fenced off the entire right side of the building. Max and Brin hugged the wall as they made their way towards the front of the building and the black SUV that was parked closest to the fence.

Fire engines sirens soon mingled with the still ongoing fire alarm which meant they had to move fast. Max smiled as the back passenger side door opened and Jondy emerged, looking like she was finding out what all the commotion was about but essentially leaving the door wide open behind her. The SUV was parked so close to the wire no one noticed Max and Brin slip through the hole in the fence just behind it and enter the car still in a careful crouch. Once Jondy was sure they were in she gestured towards Zack, making a show to anyone who might be looking that she was scared and wanted to leave before getting back in the back seat. Zack, with a careful shrug and slow steady pace made his way back to the car, hopped in the driver's seat and pulled off. As they passed, Lydecker cast an inquisitive glance at the car with its tinted windows before obviously deciding it wasn't worth his time and concentrating on what was being reported over his radio.

"Status?" he ordered.

"Sir, target is MIA," a nameless soldier reported.

"What?" Lydecker spat.

"TAC teams have cleared the building, Sir; she's not here," the voice confirmed.

"AARRGGH!" Lydecker fumed, throwing his radio on the tar below making it shatter. He grabbed the first soldier that dared approach him and held his arm in a death grip. "Get me the surveillance, I want to know how this happened!"

**Logan's house 4:30pm…**

"Canada," Zack answered Jondy's question as to where him and Brin were headed. "At least until the heat dies down, with her file in the system Lydecker will know what she looks like."

"No he won't," Logan said, smiling as he and Krit walked into the living room, "Everything the cops had on you is now deleted. It's like you were never there. They may have eye witnesses but nothing they can substantiate into a nationwide search. I also took the liberty of asking a friend of mine at channel 5 to accidentally lose the tape that your chase was on. Just to be safe you should get out of LA but you don't have to leave the country."

"Thanks Logan." Brin breathed a sigh of relief, but Zack was a little less trusting.

"And how exactly did you do that?" he asked Logan, not bothering to hide his suspicious tone.

"With my help," Krit cut in. "Zack, Dude, you need to unwind, Bro."

"Whatever. Brin we need to get moving; the longer we stay here the less time we have to get out." Zack replied, looking at Max and Jondy pointedly.

"I know …" Brin sighed as she stood and looked at her sisters. "I guess this is goodbye."

"No way," Jondy admonished, pulling her sister in for a tight hug.

"We just found you baby sister, we're not going to lose you again." Max smiled as she hugged Brin as well.

"Take care of yourself." Krit said, claiming a hug for himself before turning towards Zack. "Both of you."

Zack merely grunted in reply before turning towards the door. Krit swung an arm around Brin and walked her to the car waiting outside. Zack held back to talk with Max and Jondy, his expression stony and serious.

"I don't like this," he gestured towards them. "It's dangerous and you know it."

"I'm leaving on Thursday Zack so just relax," Jondy replied, her voice weary from this argument but not seeking to start another.

Zack turned to Max and gestured towards Logan, who still sat in the living room. "And I can't talk you out of this?"

"Not a chance," Max replied.

"Then it's on your head," Zack huffed. "Its phoney sentimentality and it will get you killed. Both of you."

"Look after yourself Zack," Max said tersely before turning on her heel and returning to the living room with not a second glance.

* * *


	16. kisses in the rain

**A/N: **Fluff golrious fluff, is all that you're going to find in this chapter so if you don't like corny and cheesy this chap is not for you. i just can't seem to help myself when writting abut these two, you're lucky most of the other chapers got off fluff free. sorry for the delay and if i got the star wars stuff wrong blame wikipedia :)

as always big up to all my reveiwers and my beta

enjoy...(hopefully)

* * *

**8:00pm**

Max stood in front of Logan's huge bay windows staring at the rain storm that rattled the glass. She had been there for hours since the others had left, her thoughts just running in a loop.

"_It's just phoney sentimentality."_

Zack's words constantly echoed through her head. The more she thought about it the more she had to admit he was right and she was holding on to every shred of it. Seeing Lydecker again that day made her realise her family and friends were what drove her. It was the reason she escaped Manticore in the first place, to find what she had. Max knew that the fact they knew her was dangerous enough, they could get hurt because of her and that thought made her sick to her stomach. Someone had already been hurt because of her. She shuddered involuntarily when she remembered the feeling of horror that ripped through her when she saw Logan all bloodied up on the floor, just because he knew what she was. Logan. Max breathed a heavy sigh. He had only been in her life for two weeks yet he had seen further into her than anyone. She had never fallen for anyone so hard or so fast in her life and she was clueless on where to go next. She was basically making it up as she went and she was running out of ideas.

As if on cue an arm snaked around her waist and her eyes that were previously lost in the dark night beyond the windows now focused on Logan's reflection in the glass.

"You OK?" he asked her, concerned.

"Just thinking," Max replied, leaning into Logan's embrace.

He would always surprise her with these displays of affection that caught her off guard. Not that she minded, but her mind searched for something to call it. What were her and Logan? Friends? They both liked each other, sure, but was that it?

"Want to talk about it?" he asked.

Logan was glad she didn't shy away from his embrace, but leaned into it. It was a welcomed relief to the doubts that plagued him just after he had done it. He had had girlfriends before, but Max was different. He had never fallen so hard and so fast for someone in his life, and he wasn't sure where to go with this. Where she was willing to go with this. So it was on these occasions that he finally worked up enough courage to hold her, throwing caution to the wind.

"Nah," she sighed and turned so that she was facing him, "Nothing a Cale Culinary miracle won't fix."

"It's on the table," Logan smiled.

"Great, I'm starving." Max smiled and tried to make a move to the kitchen but Logan held her in place, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Logan, what ..." before she could say another word Logan claimed her lips in a soft gentle kiss.

Max eagerly responded, her hands snaking around his neck and his arm tightening around her waist. When they finally parted some minutes later, Logan had a giddy expression on his face.

"You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that." he smiled happily.

"Took you long enough," Max sighed in mock frustration, "Now feed me!" she ordered taking his hand and leading him towards the kitchen.

**Logan's house Wednesday…**

"C'mon Logan, we're going to be late!" Max yelled from the front door, but she got no reply.

"Logan!" she called again.

An e-mail had arrived the day before about yet another corrupt official funnelling funds from some charity into a personal account, and since then Logan had hardly ate, slept or moved beyond the confines of his study. Max had been stripped of her typing position when a very frustrated Logan announced that even with a broken arm he would be faster than her. Completely absorbed in the case he didn't notice she was mad until Max stormed out for a ride on her motorcycle, returning in the early hours of the morning to find him still at it.

"Go ahead, I'll catch up," came the mumbled reply from his study

"You can't drive with your arm in a sling, now get your ass up and let's go!" Max replied, in no mood for this rubbish this early in the morning.

"Then I'm not coming!"

"Fine, I have no time for this," Max said before slamming the door again.

Logan sighed at the sound and ran a weary hand through his already dishevelled hair. He and Max had the same argument the previous night and they were both too stubborn to concede. Logan had a mission, a task that he had to get done and sleeping and eating didn't help him achieve it, so he just did without them. He understood Max was worried, but he had been doing this long before he met her and this was what it took. All that mattered was bringing this guy down.

**Later…**

Max slammed her locker shut and that was enough of a hint for Original Cindy that all was not right with her home girl.

"You aiight Boo?" she asked carefully.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just great. Peachy," Max mumbled as she stuffed her books into her back pack.

"What's with her?" Jondy asked, coming up behind Cindy and observing her sister.

"My guess is she and Hot Boy are fighting," OC said seriously.

Max was fuming by now, "First he kisses me then completely ignores me for his stupid computers," she said in disbelief, more to herself than them.

"That ain't right," Cindy agreed shaking her head, "You want me to put the smack down on his ass for ya?"

"Nah, I can handle that myself," Max sighed before she made her way through the crowd towards Calculus.

**Logan's house 3:30pm…**

The door opened with a slam as Max flounced in, her hands full of groceries. She went to the kitchen to shed her load, all the while dutifully ignoring Logan's gaze, which he had miraculously torn away from his computer screen. Once she had finished she went to the guest room, got changed, then went in search of her boots that she had left in the living room. As she passed through the study, she drew Logan's attention again and he was surprised to see her in a red skin tight sleeveless polar neck and a pair of black jeans. Nothing too special, but not an outfit that said she was staying in for the night.

"Going somewhere?" he asked, curiosity finally getting the best of him.

"Crash," Max replied lacing up her boots and barely acknowledging him, "Tonight is Jondy's last one in LA so we're going to celebrate."

Logan's heart dropped slightly, "Well, have a good time."

"You're welcome to come along," she said meeting his eyes for the first time since she had arrived.

"Thanks but I have ..." he began.

"Work to do, right?" Max finished for him, "I thought so."

"That's not fair Max; this guy has to be stopped."

"And you're the one who has to do it?" she snapped back.

"No one else will!"

"Sorry, I forgot. Mr Eyes Only has to save the world. Run to the defence of widows, small children and lost animals. Blah, blah, woof, woof."

"Do you hate what I do that much?" he asked, clearly hurt.

"I don't hate your work. I admire you for doing it, but not when you do that to yourself. Logan, you have hardly eaten or slept in two days."

"I can handle it, I've done it before!"

"I don't doubt it, but it's not healthy, Logan. I'm not sticking around to just be tossed aside every time a new assignment pops up, or deal with a sleep deprived Cale. I'll be out in the real world Logan; if you decide living is more important than work, you know where to find me." with that she stood, grabbed her jacket and keys, and was out the door. Logan still sat in his stunned stupor as the roar of her motorcycle disappeared into the distance.

**Crash 8:00pm…**

The thunder that rumbled outside went completely unnoticed by the group of friends that sat at their usual table towards the back of the bar.

"C'mon guys, I got school tomorrow!" Jondy pleaded as another shot of tequila was pushed towards her.

"So do we Sugar," Cindy replied, before emptying her own shot glass.

"Today we celebrate my sister, not for your departure, but when Jah will bring us together again," Herbal slurred, his three shots catching up with him.

"What he said!" Sketchy roared before knocking back his fourth.

Max had to admit Jondy did a good job of pretending she was a drunk lightweight, when in reality she could have drunk the whole bottle and felt no affects of it the next day. Her face was priceless as the clear liquid burned down her throat. A mighty cheer erupted from the table, and Max took it upon herself to get the next round.

"Next one's on me." she smiled as she grabbed their two empty pitchers.

"I'll help!" Raz offered. Anything to get away from Sketchy, who decided now was an excellent time to show off the scars he had gotten on his many BMX endeavours.

The bartender knew them by name, but Crash was pretty busy and it took him a while to reach them.

"Max, Raz, what can I do you for?" he smiled brightly.

"Two more pitchers please, Irv," Raz asked sweetly.

"Coming right up."

As he turned someone grabbed a firm hold on Max's ass. _I wonder who the idiot with a death wish is? _Max thought as she turned to see none other than Darren standing behind her. Max simply huffed and turned back to the bar, it seemed people were just asking for it today.

"Cold shoulder, huh?" he said smoothly, but you could tell he was drunk more by the smell than anything else.

"Female fog-bank, remember?" Max said indifferently, "Cold comes with the title."

"Aww Max, don't be like that," Darren whined, "I didn't mean half of what I said."

"Did you mean to get caught with your head under Justine's skirt?" Raz asked, her every syllable dripping with sarcasm and a venom Max had never heard her use before. Max felt honoured.

When no reply came from Darren, except the opening and closing of his mouth a couple of times, Raz shot off an, "I thought so," before heading back to the table with both pitchers in hand. Max was determined to follow her path when Darren stepped in her way.

"It was all just a big mistake. Let's start over Max, you know we were good together." He almost begged, it was really pathetic. Just looking at him made her want to gag. He was why she hated her heat cycles so much, way too much stress for only two days every three months.

"Get lost Darren, it's over. It's been over for months."

Knowing he had lost her attention, if he ever had it, Darren pinned her to the bar, convinced if she just had a taste of what she was missing she would be running back with open arms. Max was just about to kick his ass when a fist flew, seemingly out of nowhere, literally beating her to the punch. Darren was thrown back dazed, but before he could recover, another fist met his face and he collapsed spread eagle on the floor. Max looked at Logan who stood over Darren, breathing heavy and nursing his hand. Logan looked at Max before turning on his heel and heading for the exit. Max shook her head in disbelief, casting one final amused glance at the unconscious Darren before hurrying after Logan.

"Logan!" she shouted against the heavy rain that was now falling. She spotted him crossing the parking lot, shoulders hunched against the rain. "Logan!" she yelled again this time making him pause and wait till she had caught up to him. Up close she could see he was livid, his breathing still heavy. Logan remained silent, just looking at her. His vision soon blurred as the rain settled on his glasses, his clothes already soaked.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked.

"No," Max replied, "But you hurt him and not that I'm not grateful or anything, but why the hell did you just do that?"

"Why?" Logan laughed bitterly, "Why? Because the thought of another guy touching you makes me feel physically sick that's why!"

That was the last thing Max was expecting, "What?"

Logan shook his head, "After you left, I was thinking about what you said. I've always thrown myself into my work because I had nothing better in my life. That's until I came here, and met you. I was coming here to tell you what a jackass I was being when I saw HIM talking to you. Then he was all over you and something in me snapped. I've dated a lot of girls Max, but I've never done that before."

"Dated?" Max asked, a part of her melting at his words, but a bigger part needing an explanation,

"Dating? Is that what we are Logan? Am I the girlfriend that just gets thrown to the side every time another case comes along? Am I there when you find it convenient, Logan? Am I…"

"Never again, I promise!" he said, the sound barely audible through the rain, but said with such conviction that it silenced her tirade. They both just stood there getting more soaked by the second. He moved his good hand to gently tuck a lock of sodden hair behind her ear.

"What do you want from me, Logan?" she asked before she lost her nerve to the icy depths of his eyes.

"You," he said sincerely. "I want you. I want guys to know you're with me. I want girls to know I'm taken. I want to be your boyfriend Max, if you'll have me."

"You sure you want to date a genetically engineered killing machine with no relationship savvy what-soever?" she asked. Max wanted to make sure this wasn't another one of Logan's short lived moments of courage that dwindled almost as fast as they came.

"Absolutely." Logan smiled that sexy smile of his.

"Good, 'cause I'm not the one you need to convince." Max had a mischievous grin on her face and an evil glint in her eye.

"And who would that be?" he asked, curious. Logan knew that look meant trouble.

"You'll see." Max smiled leaning on her tip toes until her and Logan's lips finally met in an electric kiss that took his breath away. Licking her lips as she pulled away still smiling, she added, "Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow it is."

"Logan, your cast!" Max realized suddenly, looking down at the now sodden plaster and the large white patch it had just left on her top. "It's soaked."

"I'll just have to get another one done." he shrugged.

"I thought you hated hospitals," Max said with a raised eyebrow.

"I do," he smiled, "But I find they're more …bearable, with the right company."

"You want to go now?"

"Nah, it can wait. A little birdie told me this was Jondy's last night here, and the next round is on me." he smiled.

"Lead the way."

Logan offered his good arm, which she took, and arm in arm they walked back into Crash, both well and truly soaked to the bone.

**Undisclosed location**

Donald Lydecker stood watching the X7 unit train outside his window, his face stony and devoid of all emotion. The failure of capturing the rogue X5 still hung over his head and he was fighting the urge to just go drown his sorrows in the nearest bottle of Scotch. He was roused from his thoughts by a knock on his office door.

"Enter," he barked without turning from his view.

An officer entered hesitantly, closing the door behind him. "Sir, we have a development with the rogue X5s," he announced.

"Has our target resurfaced?"

"Negative, Sir."

"Well?" Lydecker snapped when the officer did not continue.

"We have a confirmed sighting in Los Angeles. Two unidentified females took out three of the MS-18 best men without breaking a sweat. All three are still hospitalised."

"MS-18 ... the gang out of Compton?" Lydecker asked, deciding this was worth his attention.

"Affirmative, Sir. They were conducting an arms deal with one of our benefactors when it went south because of a rookie in their ranks. The three men sent after him found his sister instead, but before they got any information out of her apparently two females who could run faster than a blink of an eye entered through the window and knocked out all three of them."

"How long ago was this?"

"A week ago, Sir."

"And why am I learning about this now?" Lydecker snapped.

"One of the men only came out of his coma yesterday, Sir. Once our benefactor heard his story he

called in and requested the matter be dealt with immediately."

"Do we know the name of the sister?" Donald Lydecker finally turned to regard the officer closely.

"Affirmative, a Cynthia McEachin Sir, however her whereabouts are unknown," he read off the clipboard which he held in his slightly shaking hands.

"Find her," Lydecker said simply making the soldier look up at him with a confused expression.

"Sir?"

"Find the girl and we will find our targets. They obviously have a relationship if they risked tactical exposure for her. Once you find her I want her watched around the clock and every move she makes reported back to me."

"Yes, Sir," The officer replied, but instead of turning and leaving he still stood there with a puzzled expression. "If I may Sir, how do you plan on securing the rouge X5s?"

"They let emotions cloud their judgement; we will use their own weakness against them and flush them out. This 'MS-18' might also prove to be useful," he added as an afterthought, turning back to the window but this time with a wicked smile in place. "Get me a TAC team and arrange a meeting with whomever it was that our "benefactor" was dealing with. It looks like I'm going to Los Angeles."

The officer nodded before exiting the office to go execute his orders.

**Thursday afternoon…**

Max paced restlessly in the front hall. Logan had been alone in there for ten minutes. For all she knew he was dead, lying bleeding on the floor.

"Max, would you relax? Logan is going to be fine," her mother soothed, sitting calmly in the lounge flipping through a magazine.

"Dad wouldn't do anything, would he?" Max asked, casting a weary gaze down the hall towards her father's study.

Meanwhile …

Logan sat in front of Mr Guevera's huge oak desk, looking the elder man straight in the eye. He had been in there for ten minutes pleading his case.

"So you want to date my daughter?" Mr Guevera said, leaning his elbows against his desk. His fingers were laced together and he perched his chin on top of them as he regarded the young man before him. Max had entered his study half an hour before with a dead serious look on her face and that was enough to let him know something was up.

"_Papi, we need to talk__,__" she had started._

"_About what?" he asked worriedly._

"_Logan Cale__.__"_

_He had sat back down closely scrutinizing his daughter__.__ "What about him?"_

"_He knows, about me, that I'm Manticore__,__" she had said as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world._

"_He what?!" _

"_Before you blow a gasket let me explain." And so she did. Max told him the whole story from her seizure, to the wedding, to what had happened last night. She had of course left out the parts she thought he didn't need to know, like him being Eyes Only, her getting shot and all the kissing. Once she had finished he was silent for a while._

"_Why didn't you tell us sooner?" _

"_I thought I could handle it, but I was wrong. I'm sorry."_

"_That's okay __Niñ__a__," he had said, coming around his desk and hugging his daughter__.__ "But never feel that you can't talk to either me or your mother."_

"_I just didn't want you to worry__,__" she mumbled into his chest. _

_They stood in a tight hug for a few minutes before he spoke again__.__ "So you really like this guy huh?"_

"_Yeah, I really do. Just hear him out Daddy please!" _

_She hit him with that puppy dog look of hers and he put up a fight for about two seconds before he caved__.__ "Fine, send him in."_

_Max beamed and kissed him on the cheek._

"_Thank you Daddy__,__" __s__he chirped before bouncing out of the room. Logan Cale had entered a minute later._

"Yes Sir_,_" Logan said immediately in what he hoped was a steady confidant voice. Inside he was folding under the intense scrutiny of Mr_._ Guevera. The images of him with a bat were still fresh in Logan's mind. Logan had managed to plead his case without faltering, a fact that he was extremely proud of, and all he could do now was wait to see what the elder man had to say.

"You are aware my daughter is a very special individual, Mr Cale, and as her father I worry about her safety. It is her secret to tell and she seems to trust you, so I trust her judgement, but I want your word that you tell no one else about this."

"I swear I will never tell another living soul, Sir. You have my word."

"Then you have my blessing_,_" Mr_._ Guevera announced noticing how the young man visibly relaxed at the information.

Rick knew there was nothing he could do or say to fault this boy, the fact that he was sitting in his study, asking his permission was proof enough of the young man's affection. "Given your current medical condition and the fact that I trust my daughter, I have allowed Max to continue to stay with you but on one condition …"

"Name it_,_" Logan said_._

"That both you and her have dinner here, everyday."

"Of course Sir, thank you, Sir." Logan had to fight the urge to bow to the man. He shook the elder gentleman's hand and rushed to the door to deliver the good news to Max. Just as he reached the door Mr_._ Guevera called after him.

"Oh and Cale …"

"Yes Sir?" Logan replied_,_ hand on the door knob as he turned to face Max's father.

"You hurt my daughter in any way and you will have me and my son to deal with_,_" Rick said_,_ deadly serious.

The threat hung heavy in the air_,_ but a thought came to Logan's head that made him chuckle_._

"With all due respect_,_ Sir," he said smiling, gaining a curious look from Mr Guevera, "You're both welcome to have what's left of me after your daughter is finished with me."

"You're a smart boy Cale_,_" Mr Guevera chuckled_._ For someone who had only met his daughter two weeks ago_,_ this boy knew his daughter well_._ "There might be hope for you yet."

"Thank you, Sir." Logan smiled as he left the room.

At the sound of footsteps in the hall Max jumped off her perch on the stairs and stood_,_ expectantly facing the entrance to the hall. When Logan appeared his face was devoid of emotion and Max thought the worst, but slowly a smile tugged at the corners of Logan's lips which eventually developed into a full out grin. Max looked at him sceptically at first then a smile that matched his appeared on her face before she launched herself into his arms. He held her in a one-armed hug that ended when her father entered from behind him.

She walked towards him gave him a hug and whispered_,_ "Thank you Daddy_,_" before placing a kiss on both cheeks and returning to Logan.

Rick walked over to his wife who snaked an arm around his waist.

"That was a good thing you did for our daughter_,_" she said as they both watched Max and Logan leave through the front door.

"I must be getting soft in my old age." Rick shrugged.

"But we love you any way_,_" Gabrielle teased as she led him to the kitchen_._ "How about some ice-cream_,_ you big softie?"

**Thursday evening…**

Ever since Max started staying with Logan_,_ a silent agreement had been made between the two of them. Like it or not Logan was Eyes Only, so he devoted a few hours of the day to righting the wrongs of the world_,_ while Max found something productive to do. She was currently sprawled on his couch_,_ fully emerged in a CSI marathon when her stomach announced that it was high time she found something to eat. They had already had dinner with her family, which was thankfully less awkward than she thought it would be, but that was a full hour ago. Max waited for the next break before getting up and padding silently to the kitchen. As she entered his study_,_ Logan jumped slightly before discreetly pulling up useless windows to hide the information he had been reading through. Unfortunately for him nothing much got by Max and her eyebrows rose in suspicion.

"Something you don't want me to see?" she asked, not the first time she had been curious about the

'project' he was working on.

"I thought you didn't want to know_,_" he retorted_,_ his tone teasing.

"I don't_,_" she shrugged_,_ continuing her progress to the kitchen.

Logan chuckled as he shut down his system. Max had made it quite clear on various occasions that she wanted nothing to do with Eyes Only, yet her curiosity always got the better of her. Normally if she asked what he was working on he would gladly tell her but this case was different, this involved her and he was not sure she would approve. Who was he kidding, he knew she wouldn't approve. He entered the kitchen to find Max attacking his deep freezer not doubt in search of one of the many tubs of Häagen Dazs she had made him buy. She extracted a tub of Rocky Road with a flourish then went off in search of a spoon.

"What do you say we go out tonight?" he asked her_,_ effectively drawing her attention away from the dessert in her hands.

Max looked at her watch and then at Logan with an amused look on her face, "Out? At half past nine on a Thursday night?"

"Yes out," Logan smiled. "I know a place where they're showing Star Wars re-runs. The last show starts at ten_,_ so we have plenty of time."

"Logan, are you asking me on a date?" Max chuckled.

Logan rolled his eyes as he made his way toward her; she wasn't going to make this easy for him. "It is what people do when they are dating; besides I want to show off my really hot girlfriend."

"Oh really?" her smile grew as he pinned her against the counter with a hand at either side of her hips.

"Really_,_" he practically growled before he caught her lips with his leaving no room for objection.

"The last show is at ten you say?" Max smirked when they separated a few minutes later.

"I don't get it," Max began as they stood in the cinema's snack line. "Why weren't they filmed in order?"

Logan chuckled at her confused expression and snaked an arm around her waist before he explained. "The first Star Wars film, A New Hope, was so successful it had two sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The First three episodes are actually prequels to A New Hope and that's why they were filmed later."

"So which one are we watching?"

"The Phantom Menace, it's my favourite."

The excitement in his voice made Max chuckle. "You're such a geek."

"But that's why you like me_,_" Logan teased as they inched forward in the queue. Max rolled her eyes at him before a shrill voice suddenly squeaked behind them. Max felt Logan's entire body stiffen and his jaw clenched at the sound.

"Logan Cale it is you!" They both turned to see a redhead about their age approach them.

"Valerie." Logan nodded his head politely when his tone spoke nothing but disgust. Valerie obviously didn't hear any of it because she continued just as cheerily as before.

"Your cousins told me this is where you disappeared to, Seattle is not the same without you," she suddenly directed her conversation towards Max who she seemingly had just noticed. "And you are?"

"Max_,_" she replied_,_ looking at the hand Valerie offered with no interest. If this woman had this kind of effect on Logan she was not someone she wanted to get chummy with.

"Max this is Valerie. Valerie, this is my girlfriend Max_,_" Logan supplied to hopefully smother anything Valerie might say on the subject. Unfortunately for him she seemed to be in a talkative mood today.

"Your aunt never told me you had a girlfriend, which means she probably doesn't know," Valerie

tutted then sighed very over-dramatically. "And she had such high hopes for us."

At the mention of his Aunt Logan's grip tightened around Max_,_ but his face remained neutral and nonchalant. Max_,_ sensing that he was close to breaking point_,_ provided an escape which he gladly took.

"Logan," she whined. "The movie's about to start and I still don't have popcorn or gummy worms."

"I'm on it." He smiled for the first time since Valerie's arrival and kissed Max's cheek in a silent thank you. "Valerie, always a pleasure." With that he turned and went to buy said snacks_,_ curious as to why Max had stayed to talk to Valerie alone.

"So you're the hussy that I heard about, Brent was very gracious with his description." Finally the real Valerie surfaced and was as up her own ass as Max had suspected.

"Sorry to disappoint a sour faced cow such as yourself_,_" Max replied_,_ and the deep shade of red Valerie's face turned ensured her words had the desired effect.

"How dare you! Logan's only with you to piss off his family. After this little rebellion of his, he's going to go back to Seattle_,_ and when he does do you think he's going to take someone like you with him? Someone who is so obviously beneath him and that his family already disapproves of? I don't think so."

"Look," Max snapped_,_ now having lost all patience. "I don't know what crawled into your ass and died_,_ but you're sorely mistaken if you think I give a rat's ass about what you think of me. Logan is a grown man and he knows what he wants and that obviously isn't you. So run along and tell all your blue-blooded friends all about me 'cause there is nothing anyone of you sour faced dip-shits can do to come between me and him. Now, leave us alone if you know what's good for you."

Without waiting for a response Max turned and left Valerie staring after her, mouth hanging slightly open. Logan waited for her patiently at the door_,_ his arms laden with the snacks she had ordered and a look of pure admiration in his face. As she reached him Max reached up and held his face in her hands gently guiding his lips towards hers for a slow sensual kiss. When they pulled apart neither Max nor Logan spared a backwards glance at the woman behind them whose face had turned purple with rage.

They settled themselves in the near empty theatre just as the yellow words of the opening sequence started disappearing in the distance and the infamous Star Wars theme echoed around them. Logan's arm instantly found its way around Max's shoulders and she settled her head against his shoulder. A vibration emanating from Logan's chest drew her attention away from the flying words and she looked up to find that he was laughing.

"What's so funny?" she asked as he looked down at her.

"I can't believe you just did that." He smiled.

"I can't believe you dated that_,_" Max retorted_,_ seriously not seeing what Logan every saw in Valerie.

"My aunt kind of forced her on me. We only ever went out twice and both times all she did was gossip about the other people in our circle that she presumed I cared about. At the end of the second night I couldn't take it and I dumped her."

Max just shrugged and shushed him as the movie started. She soon became completely absorbed in the movie, only the snacks she requested pulling her attention away from it. An hour passed as they watched until Logan noticed something. The arm he had draped around Max was shaking, but on further inspection he discovered it was not his arm but Max. Her shoulders shook slightly_,_ and the hand which held her soda didn't look all that steady either. Max_,_ however_,_ seemed oblivious to it or too caught up in the story line to care.

"Max, you're shaking," he said worriedly, "Are you having another seizure?"

Max looked at her shaking hand surprised to see that Logan was right.

"No not yet, sort of the beginning stages."

"Where are your meds?"

"I forgot them." Max shrugged guilty.

"That's it we're leaving," Logan announced as he stood and offered Max help up. She swatted his hand away and pouted at him.

"But Logan_,_ the movie, it might just be a false alarm; it happens all the time."

"I'm not taking that chance. I've got the DVD at home we can finish it there."

With a deep sigh Max stood_,_ bringing her gummy worms with her and let Logan lead her out of the theatre.

It turned out to not be the false alarm Max had hoped it would be_,_ and her shakes were considerably worse as they walked through Logan's front door.

"Can you get to the couch by yourself?" Logan asked her_,_ now growing increasingly agitated. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of the last time she couldn't reach her meds in time. Max offered a small nod in reply. He watched her go on shaky legs just to make sure she wasn't just being stubborn and refusing his help. When she was halfway down the hall Logan practically sprinted to his bathroom and threw open the cabinet. Bottle of Tryptophan in hand_,_ his next destination was the kitchen where he poured a glass full of milk before following Max to the lounge. She lay on the couch one arm draped over her eyes as tremors spread throughout her body. When she heard him approach_,_ she shifted into a sitting position and gratefully accepted the pills and the milk he offered.

"So much for the false alarm." Max managed a weak smile.

"It's pretty bad this time, huh?" Logan asked sitting on the coffee table opposite her.

"Every once in a while, I hit a rough patch. Usually the Tryptophan helps, but ... these seizures are much stronger than usual."

"What can I do?" Logan's eyes spoke his concern_,_ as he smoothed her sweat drenched hair away from her face when Max resumed her lying position.

"Stay with me, please?"

Her voice sounded so small and vulnerable that it made Logan's heart ache to hear it. He wanted his strong and confident Max back. "I'm right here_,_" he soothed.

"You won't leave?"

Logan leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead before getting up and crossing the room. After a minute searching through his DVD collection_,_ he found what he was looking for and put it in. Max smiled when the scene selection for _The Phantom Menace_ came up and Logan found the scene they were watching before they had left the cinema. He then returned to her_,_ pulling off his sweater and shoes in the process. He slid in behind her on the couch and pulled her flush against him with a strong arm around her waist.

"I'm not going anywhere." His voice was low and reassuring as he placed one last kiss to her temple. The tremors gradually slowed, then disappeared all together as the movie ran its course. In front of him_,_ Max's slow and rhythmic breathing was enough to tell Logan she was fast asleep. Knowing the worst was over and she was safe_,_ he allowed sleep to claim him.


	17. in the heat of the moment

**Harley High Friday Morning**

The students of Harley High swarmed around Max during change of lesson as she stood at her locker, shedding her sweater. Original Cindy appeared out of the crowd reading a flyer that had been handed to her.

"I can't believe Prom is on Monday and Original Cindy still ain't found a fine ass lickedy chick to go with!"

"You still have the entire weekend, you'll find someone." Max answered distractedly, searching through her messy locker for the bottle of water she was sure she chucked in there last week.

"Thanks Boo," Original Cindy replied, finally looking up at Max, who had found the bottle of water and was now taking long drags out of it, "Speaking of fine pieces of ass where's yours?"

"Logan had to go see Coach Wallace, something about college basketball or something." Max mumbled, her eyes searching the crowd and lingering longer than she should on some of the male students.

"Are you feeling okay, Boo?"

"Fine, why?"

"You look kinda flushed, you may be coming down with something." Original Cindy said, worried, reaching a hand to Max's forehead. She swatted Cindy's hand away and glared at her.

"I never come down with anything, it's in my genes. I told you I'm…" Her response died as she saw Sketchy coming towards them through the crowd. _Damn Sketchy is looking SEXY today! _She thought then whatever rationality she had left kicked in,_ EEEEWWWW!!! Did I just think Sketchy was sexy! Gross! Why for the love of Mike would I ever…OH NO!_

"I'm in heat again." Max finally said out loud.

"What?" Original Cindy asked; her arms folded across her chest and her eyebrows raised so high that Max thought they would disappear into her hair line.

Without answering she slammed her locker shut, grabbed Cindy's arm, and dragged her to the girl's bathroom. After bullying the three freshmen girls that were in there out she checked that all the stalls were empty before she locked her and Original Cindy inside.

Five minutes found Max at the sink, desperately trying to cool herself down by splashing water on her face and Original Cindy looking at her disbelievingly.

"You mean to tell me, that whatever them black helicopter people put in you makes you go all sex crazy a couple times a year?"

"I can't control myself, if Sketchy had come any closer I probably would have jumped him right there in the hall."

"Boo, that is just nasty." Original Cindy said disgusted at the thought.

"I know! What the hell am I going to do?"

"The way I see it, you need to lock your ass up far far away from any of the male species and there ain't no where to do that at school. Go home and lock yourself in."

"I can't go home without Normal's permission."

"Why don't you just ask your boy toy to tell Principal Evans? You and Jondy have been in and out without hassle the past couple of weeks."

"There is no way I'm telling Logan about this; he already thinks I'm a freak."

"And yet he still wants to go out with you."

"He can't know! Promise me you're not going to tell him. OC!"

"Fine, but I don't like it," Original Cindy put her hands on her hips for emphasis, "How you planning on asking Normal if you want to knock boots with every one of the three legged species?"

"That's where you come in; all you have to do is make sure I don't do anything."

"Easier said than done," Original Cindy shook her head as Max doused herself with more cold water.

Reagan Ronald, known to most of the students at Harley High as 'Normal', was the Vice Principal and Head of Truancy; no one came in or out of school without his knowledge. They called him 'Normal' because of the pure fact that he wasn't and the pair eyed the door to his office wearily before they entered the bland white room. Everything was in its appointed place and in such perfect order that it bordered on obsessive. Normal sat behind his desk with a wireless head set over his, perfectly quaffed, short blonde hair. His desk was so clean you could eat off of it. A tub of hair gel sat on his left and a bottle of disinfectant on his right. He looked up from the paper work he was studying and regarded the pair before him from behind his thick black rimmed glasses.

"Miss Guevera, Miss McEachin, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Max don't feel good and she needs to go home." Original Cindy supplied used to dealing with Normal's unique brand of humour.

"What happened Miss Guevera, get tired of sending your boyfriend to pull strings with his uncle or did another Aunt die?" His eyes returned to the papers and as much as it disgusted her, Max couldn't help but notice the way his biceps rippled as he did so.

"No. I don't feel well." Was the only thing she trusted herself to say.

"So what exactly is wrong with you?" Normal asked raising an eyebrow at her. Max was looking at him like he was a piece of meat and it was unnerving.

"I'm hot." Max answered leaning over his desk, making Normal lean back in his chair in the process. Original Cindy grabbed her collar and pulled her back before Max could crawl across the table.

"She means she's got a fever and its making her act funny. It might be bird flu; I heard that's what Rachel Lawrence had."

"Bird Flu, yeah, I'm sure that's it. Take all the time you need." He scribbled a pass and handed it to Original Cindy and as she muscled Max out the door Normal picked up the disinfectant and began ridding his office of potential Bird Flu germs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Logan sat in History, staring blankly at the clock watching the seconds 'till lunch. Max had been missing for two lessons and according to Sketchy, he was kinda, sort of, maybe, sure that he had seen someone that looked like Max leaving earlier. For Logan however kinda, sort of, maybe was not a good enough answer, but one person who would know was Original Cindy. The bell rang and he practically sprinted out of class, to the cafeteria, scanning the crowd for Cindy as he did so. He found his target sitting at their usual table poking something that resembled meatloaf on the plate in front of her.

"Where is she?" he asked as he sat down next to her, knowing she wouldn't mind if he skipped the pleasantries.

Her eyes met his for a second before they returned to her plate, "I'm not supposed to tell you that she went home."

"Home? Why?" he asked confused, "How? My car is still here."

"I dropped her off 'cause she wasn't feeling like herself."

Logan dropped his voice, "Seizures again?"

"Nah, nothing like that but I can tell you them Manticore peeps were some sick sons of bitches."

"What do they have to do with this?" Instead of getting answers Logan was getting more confused by the second, "What's wrong with her?"

"Sorry Hot Boy, my Boo is already going to kill me for telling you this much."

"I have to go find her." Logan finally stated deciding maybe he would have more luck with Max. The little voice in the back of his head scoffed. _It would be easier getting water from a stone._

"You don't want to do that." Original Cindy offered shaking her head, "She'll probably knock you flat on your back."

Logan ignored that piece of advice and was up and out of the cafeteria faster than he came. Original Cindy watched his retreating back and shook her head once more.

"Home Boy has no idea what he's walking into."

"Max!" Logan pounded on his bathroom door, "I know you're in there open the door."

"No, leave Logan." She bellowed back, "You can't be here."

"What, Why?" So far his 'water from a stone' assumption was brutally correct.

"Because, you just can't. Please go." Max had to do something. She had finally cooled down a little after an hour long ice cold shower. Now Logan's voice reverberated from behind the door and she could already feel her temperature rising. _Why did he have to have the sexiest voice in the world? _Max mentally slapped herself; thoughts like that were not helping the situation and she fought hard to maintain her will power.

"I'm not going anywhere, I told you that yesterday." His palms lay flat against the cool wood of the door, "Please, just tell me what's wrong Max."

Max winced at his plea and the desperation he poured into it. _Damn him! Why did he have to care? Why couldn't he just be your average jerk who bolted at the sign of trouble?_ She wrapped her arms around herself and slid down the wall at the opposite end of the bathroom. She needed to put as much distance between them as possible.

"I can't." She finally answered him.

"Can't or won't?" he asked, not bitter just curious.

"It's complicated." Max answered, hugging her knees close to her chest.

"There is nothing complicated about it." Logan retorted not about to let her get away with that half baked answer, "You either trust me or you don't, which one is it?"

"Of course I trust you." was her immediate response.

"Then, please, just tell me what's wrong," his tone softened with concern, "Are you sick? Should I call Sam?"

"I'm not sick … it's genetic."

"What's genetic?"

"You're better off not knowing."

"What ever it is we can talk about it, just come out of the bathroom."

"No."

Logan pinched the bridge of nose in frustration. He was tired of arguing with a door, he was tired of not getting any answers and it was ending right now. A more selfish part of him just wanted to see her again. Logan had realised something, in the eighteen days he had known her, she had stolen his heart and he was truly, madly, deeply, head-over-heels in love with the woman on the other side of that door and this not knowing was killing him.

"Fine, if you won't come out then I'm coming in." Logan announced.

"It's locked and Cindy has the key." Max said, feeling the need to point that out.

"Then I'm breaking the fucking thing down."

A small smirk formed on her face in spite of herself. That was the first time she had ever heard Logan swear and it would have been funny if he hadn't sounded completely serious.

"Don't!" Max ordered.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"No." She answered and the sound of Logan's foot connecting with the door was the only reply she got. The wood by the lock began to splinter but still held fast, one more kick like that, however, would shatter it.

"How about now?" Logan asked again.

"Logan, I can't."

This time the door did give way and Logan stood on the threshold breathing heavily. Max remained stock still facing away from him, refusing to meet his eyes.

"You shouldn't have done that." She said softly, "You were safer outside. Now I don't know what I'll do."

Logan took a step into the room his eyes never leaving her. Her hair was wet and was leaving dark grey wet patches on the old baggy sweatshirt he recognised as his, she had her knees drawn up and hugged them tightly to her chest revealing the black shorts she wore as well.

"You could never hurt me." He took another step.

"You don't understand."

"Help me understand. Tell me what's wrong. Let me in Max, please." Her eyes met his for the first time since he entered, as he took another step.

"Please don't come any closer. I promise I'll tell you if you just stop moving!"

Logan did as he was told, if this was what it took to get answers then so be it. Max dropped his gaze and stared at the tiled floor. When she began speaking her voice was cold, detached and clinical, every word saturated with her selfloathing.

"Because of the feline DNA in my genetic make up, I follow the feline menstrual cycle. Every three months I go into heat which basically means I get an over-whelming urge to screw every guy I see. That's why I'm locked in a bathroom and you can't come any closer because right now I'm trying really, really hard not to jump you."

Logan couldn't help the relief that washed through him at the information. She was fine, not sick or injured as he feared but with her confession came new and obvious problems.

"How... do ...can you stop it?" he asked clearing his throat nervously. Her eyes flicked to his for a millisecond before her focus was on the floor again and she dove deeper into her shame.

"It only lasts forty-eight hours but if I get release, it stops. All about fulfilling biological urges," she spat. "I hate it, I hate that this happens to me, I hate what it does to me, the things that it makes me do. It's not me; it's just something Manticore tricked up inside me that I can't control. Makes me feel like no matter what I do or how far I run I can never get away from them, never!"

Before her first tear fell Logan was at her side wiping it away.

"Max, listen to me," Her tear filled eyes burned with self loathing as she looked at him, something he longed to get rid of. "You have nothing to be sorry for or ashamed of because I know who you are and you never have to hide that from me."

Max still looked unconvinced, "Nothing you could say or do would make me think any less of the strong, confident, smart, beautiful woman that you are. If you want this to stop and release is what it takes, let me help you. I'd rather it were me than some random guy on the street and I won't lie to you, a part of me hoped we'd end up there eventually."

She looked up at him stunned and he held her gaze with nothing but truth in his eyes. He never made the offer just to get in her pants or for a meaningless one night stand, she was in pain and he would do anything in his power to make it go away. In that moment words failed Max and her will power evaporated but this time it was okay, this time it was different. Her lips were on his, her hands everywhere tugging his shirt free from his jeans. The flood of hormones was mind-blowing, amplifying every sensation and making the scrape of Logan's stubble on her neck absolutely heavenly. Max ripped the buttons off of Logan's shirt in her haste to rid him of the fabric and once she navigated it around his cast Logan eagerly returned the favour. Logan's lips were everywhere on the newly exposed skin and Max moaned in ecstasy. Max's next mission was Logan's belt but before she could reach it Logan pulled her flush against him and captured her lips again, with a firm grip on her thighs he got up, taking Max with him. She took the hint and wrapped her legs around his waist, which elicited a moan out of Logan as he made his way out into the hall. They did not get far however and Max found herself with her back to the wall as their make out session continued. It took them fifteen minutes before they finally collapsed on the bed, both significantly less dressed and it was another three hours before Max's hormones had calmed enough for rational conversation. They lay tangled in the sheets Max's head on Logan's shoulder as he drew lazy circles on her back.

"Is this going to change things?" she asked as she returned the favour tracing his abs with her fore- finger; it was the one fear she couldn't put to rest, the one consequence of this that she could not handle. Logan looked at her seriously before answering.

"Yeah, this just makes it harder for you to get rid of me," he smiled.

Max shifted to kiss him, slow at first but it soon ignited the familiar flame in both of them, Max had obviously decided Logan's break was over.

The shrill ring of her cell phone made Max jerk awake the next morning. Beside her Logan was still fast asleep obviously exhausted from last night's activities. Max gently uncurled herself from his embrace and dragging the sheet with her made her way down the hall to the bathroom where her phone lay still ringing next to the sink. She didn't bother to check the caller ID as she flipped her phone open.

"Hello?"

"How much trouble am I in for spilling the beans to Hot Boy?" Original Cindy asked, seemingly out of curiosity, since Max detected no hint of remorse in her voice.

"You're lucky I'm in an exceptionally forgiving mood," Max replied glad OC wasn't around to see the cheesy smile on her face.

"I take it things went well."

"You could say that."

"So does this mean you'll be holed up in bed all day with your boy or is our shopping spree still on? FYI I wouldn't be hurt if you chose option one."

"Are you kidding, it's been ages since I kicked it with my girls, I'll pick you up in an hour. Do Corrin and Raz need to be picked up?"

"No idea Boo, I can't get hold of either of them. Even Bailey has his phone switched off."

Max frowned at the information, "That's odd."

"Yeah but I called their home numbers and their moms said they left for the mall this morning so we'll probably meet them there."

"Okay, I'll just have a quick shower and then I'll be right over."

"No need to hurry Boo, tell Hot Boy I said Hey."

"Will do. Late."

Making her way back to the bedroom, still wrapped in the sheet, Max found Logan still snoring lightly. The bed dipped as she sat down next to him but still he slept on.

"Logan..." she said gaining no response, "Logan..." she tried again, this time running her hand through his already sleep tousled hair.

Logan shifted but still refused to open his eyes, "Max, its Saturday," he whined sounding like a five year old, "Besides I think I've earned the rest."

"Oh you earned it alright," Max supplied chuckling, "And I swear you'll get it, I just wanted to tell you I was leaving so you didn't wake up and think I split."

"Leaving?" he asked his eyes open now but still heavy with sleep, "Where you going?"

He made a move to sit up but Max pushed him down gently, "Shopping with OC, I promised her ages ago. So you go back to sleep, I'm going to grab a shower then I'm out the door and you get a whole day to yourself," She looked at the red numbers on the alarm clock which read 11:45, "Well, half a day."

"Okay, but on one condition..."

"What?"

"I get a Good Morning kiss."

Max happily obliged and brought her face down to meet his. Before the kiss grew too passionate, and ended up where both of them knew it would, they broke apart and Max gave Logan one last breathtaking smile before she disappeared into the en-suite bathroom. He heard the shower running a minute later and the beat of water against tile slowly lulled him back to sleep.

"$75 bucks for a shirt, in what world does that shit make sense, Boo?" Original Cindy complained as the shirt she had just fallen in love with had proven to be out of her price range. As it was, she had already blown most of her cash and her arms were laden with the fruits of her sale rack pursuits.

"You know I could just get it for you," Max reminded her as they entered the next clothing store, "It's been a while since I maxed out a credit card. C'mon it'll be fun."

"As tempting as that is, I think I'll pass. Saw the same damn shirt in Target for five bucks."

Nothing interested either of them in this store so their next stop was the food court at the very centre of the mall to rest their weary bones and gather energy for round two. They collapsed into a booth near Burger King, dropping all their bags down on the seat next to them. As Cindy rifled through all of her purchases Max went to go get their usual cheese burgers. As they ate, Max scanned the crowd searching for any sign of either Raz or Corrin but found none which was odd. The four of them often frequented the mall and this trip had been planned weeks ago. It was unusual for either of them to pass up the chance to spend as much money as they could in the space of a couple of hours; it was practically what the female species lived for. Max had found this out very early in her post Manticore life. Prehaps they just kept missing each other in the huge complex Max thought so she kept an eye out as they visited more stores until both their bank balances had been depleted quite considerably. It was nearing four o'clock when they decided to call it a day.

"Some retail therapy was exactly what Original Cindy needed," OC beamed as she looked down at her hands which were laden with even more parcels.

"Yeah this was fun," Max agreed, "It seems like ages since we just kicked it at the mall or at Crash."

"That's because it has been," Original Cindy chuckled, "You just been too wrapped up with your Hot Boy to notice."

Max was about to argue when Original Cindy cut her off.

"I ain't complaining Boo, just stating fact. You had an itch, you scratched, ain't no shame in it."

The afternoon was warm as they stepped out of the air-conditioned building and began to make their way to the car park and Max's Aston Martin that lay on the opposite end, as that was the only parking they could find.

"So you gonna give me details?" Original Cindy urged, laughing as Max began to blush.

"No way."

"What so I get you and Hot Boy together and I get nothing,"

As if on cue Max's cell announced an incoming call and the caller ID flashed Logan's name.

"Speak of the devil." Original Cindy quipped as they almost reached the car. One of the few other vehicles in the lot was a black Cadillac which started to reverse as soon as they arrived.

"Hey." Max answered cheerfully but as soon as she heard his tone her smile disappeared.

"_Max, are you with Cindy?" _Logan rushed sounding anxious

"Yeah, why?"

"_MS-18 put a hit out on her, so wherever you are get in a building and stay away from the windows."_

Max watched the Cadillac approach with its tinted windows and a feeling of dread raced through her entire body. Her fears were confirmed as the rear window slid down slowly and the tip of an automatic gun poked out.

"Too late." she said before shots began to ring out.

Max dropped all the bags she was holding and dove, tackling Original Cindy around the waist. She threw them both backwards and onto the thin strip of grass that lined the parking lot. The wind was knocked out of both of them as they landed but Max still held them down, flat against the ground. The sound of the shots were soon replaced by that of screeching tyres and Max turned just in time to commit the licence plate to memory before the Cadillac disappeared round the corner. She got up, dead set on running after it but was stopped by a moan from behind her. Original Cindy lay on her back her eyes wide with fear and pain. She cradled her left bicep and bit back cries of pain that threatened to escape. Max was at her side instantly trying to see how serious the damage was. She reached her hand out to study the wound and it was only then that she realised that she still had her phone in her hand and Logan was still on the other line.

"_Max! What the hell is going on! Max!"_

"Drive by. OC is hit but it looks like a through and through, missed the bone but might cause some tissue damage, I can't be sure. How did you know they were coming, Logan?" Max was livid but still worried about Original Cindy.

"_Not over the phone, just get here as soon as possible." _Logan couldn't help the relief that crept into his voice.

"Fine but call my father and have him come as well, if they know she's hit they'll have the hospitals covered. We can't risk it." Max slipped into full soldier mode, not so much asking as ordering Logan. Her senses were on high alert; ready for anything else that might come at them, she mentally kicked herself for being so slow in the first place.

"_Fine, just hurry." _Was all Logan said before he hung up.

Max now focused on Original Cindy happy that they were safe at least for the moment. Max retrieved the new scarf she had just bought and wrapped it tightly around Cindy's arm in an effort to stop the bleeding, it was only a temporary solution but it would last until Logan's house.

"We have to get out of here OC," Max urged, gently helping Cindy to her feet and into the car before turning to retrieve the shopping bags scattered on the floor and stuffing them into the back seat.

"Looks like I owe you two, Boo," she joked, grimaced in pain but her expression soon grew serious, "I'm guessing dudes trying to bust a cap in my ass from a black Cadillac is a little too ghetto for your black helicopter folk."

"It's MS-18," Max said solemnly, as she started the car. "There's a hit out on you."

"Damn it, Marcus!" Original Cindy spat as the Aston Martin tore out of the parking lot, puzzling those patrons who had been drawn outside by the sound of gunshots.


	18. sacrifice

**A/N:** New year, New chapter =D advanced warning that this chapter doesn't end happily but rest assured this is not the end of the story..........

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**Logan's house**

Her father's car was in the drive way, and Max breathed a silent sigh of relief as she and Original Cindy entered the house, once she was positive they had not been followed.

"Logan!" Max called into the house and seconds later Logan and both her father and mother appeared in the hallway. Her father sprang into action immediately; examining Original Cindy's arm while leading her gently into the lounge and the medical supplies he had brought. Her mother walked forward and enveloped Max in a hug that Max was sure would have killed her if she wasn't a super soldier.

"I'm fine mom, but I won't be if I don't get oxygen pretty soon."

Her mother pulled back and wiped the tears from her face.

"You had me so worried, Niña." She breathed holding Max's face in her hands.

"Mama, I'm alright, it's Cindy I'm worried about." Max replied, casting a weary look towards the living room.

"You're father knows what he's doing Max." Her mother ran a soothing hand up and down Max's forearm before turning to check on her husband's progress. Now it was Logan's turn and without any other thought he gathered Max in his arms and kissed her harder and with more passion than he ever had before. It took Max a while to think straight, after he pulled back to rest his forehead against hers.

"I was so scared I'd lost you." He whispered, "I just heard shots and then silence. Never do that again."

"I'll try." She replied equally quiet. They stood like that until the shrill ringing of a cell phone interrupted the near silence of the house. The pair broke apart and Logan grabbed Max's hand leading her to the lounge. They arrived just as Original Cindy answered her cell, with the arm that Max's father was not dressing with crisp clean gauze.

"Yeah?" she barked wincing in pain.

"_Cynthia McEachin?" _the voice on the other end asked

"This is she."

"_Then, as I suspected, my men can't do anything right and you're still breathing. That's why I got insurance."_

"Your men? What insurance? Who is this?"

"_Who I am is not important, but I believe you know a Mr Calvin Theodore. Say hello Calvin…" _There was a pause before a new voice joined the conversation,

"_Cindy, what's going on?"_

"Sketch? What the hell?"

"_Oh yes, the gang's all here," _the bastard was back on the phone and sounding as smug as ever, _"I've got Corrin, Raz, Bailey_ _and what's the Jamaican one, ah, I remember, Herbal."_

"Son of a bitch," Original Cindy said shrugging out of Max's fathers grasp, "What do you want from me?"

Max stood stock still, processing both parts of the conversation. The bastard had her friends and unbeknownst to him he had just signed his own death wish.

"_What I want is simple, give me your brother and your friends go free."_

"I don't know where Marcus is. I haven't seen him since he split after all that shit with you. Let them go they don't know anything."

"_You're lying. If Marcus isn't at the warehouse on Fifth and Grand at eight tonight, say good bye to your friends. Oh and Miss McEachin ... if I see one cop or a single flashing light, I kill them."_

"You hurt them, I'll kill you." Original Cindy spat into the phone before the line went dead. The lounge went silent as both Max and Original Cindy seethed.

"What was that all about?" Max's mother asked fearing the answer she was going to receive.

"Probably the leader of MS-18." Max offered, "He has Sketchy, Raz, Bailey, Herbal and Corrin at the warehouse on Fifth and Grand. If we don't give them Marcus by eight tonight he's gonna kill them."

Logan sighed, "I was afraid of this."

Max gave him a look that said he better start explaining himself.

"After those guys attacked Cindy I did some digging and discovered that a big arms deal was meant to go down that day between MS-18 and a high ranking corrupt government official but the deal went south when Marcus split with the cash. So now the government official has a bunch of dirty guns sitting around waiting to get found by the cops and MS-18 is down a couple of million dollars. Now they're both out for his blood."

"Son of a bitch!" Original Cindy spat again.

"Wait there's more." Logan hung his head, "I've been doing some digging on Manticore as well. I managed to get past some of their firewalls, well at least far enough to find a list of its benefactors. This Government official, he's high up on the list. This whole thing may be a big trap and you're going to walk right into it."

"When were you going to tell me you were doing this?" Max spat at Logan venomously.

"And how do you know all this?" Mrs Guevera added. Max's sudden anger died as she watched Logan's reaction but his response surprised her even more.

"Because I'm Eyes Only." He said it with such conviction that no one in the room was left with any doubt he was telling the truth, "And I was going to tell you when I got around their system. I didn't want to give you false hope."

"This still doesn't solve the issue of what we're going to do." Mr Guevera spoke up, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Now I go and get my friends back and kill the son of a bitch who tried to kill Cindy." Max announced, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, mirroring her father's stance.

"I'm not letting you do that." Both Mr Guevera and Logan announced at the same time, all awkwardness between them forgotten in the given circumstances.

"I'm not just going to sit here and let my friends get killed." Max fought to keep her voice at a civil level; inside all she wanted to do was scream and rip something to shreds, "We all know Marcus is long gone and even if it is a trap I'm not putting others in danger because of me. They are some of the best people I know and they don't deserve to die because of something they don't even know exists. Not if I have anything to do with it, so I'm doing this with or without you."

The two men stood in silence and Mrs Guevera was crying again, this time from the mixture of pride and dread she felt consuming her. Original Cindy moved to stand next to her best friend, a determined expression on her face.

"Original Cindy reporting for duty, Boo."

"I'm in as well." Mrs Guevera said standing and joining the girls, "Friends are like family and you are my family. Whatever you do, I'm proud of you Niña."

The three looked at the men expectantly; a seemingly invisible line of for or against drawn between them.

"Well, of course I'm going to help!" Logan yelled. His eyes met hers and they both knew this was probably a suicide mission but there was no chance in hell either of them would do it alone. Mr Guevera however stood planted to the spot, not so easily swayed.

"At least let me call Krit, he can help."

"No!" Max pleaded, "He can't know about this. If it is a trap the chances are they only know about me. I will not send him back to that hell hole if I can help it."

"But you would sentence yourself to the same fate?" her father pleaded.

"If it keeps the ones I love safe, absolutely!"

The look on his face softened at the statement, replaced with a look of pride. The young lady before him was not the cold heartless soldier Manticore had intended her to be, but a strong, loving person that was willing to sacrifice everything for those that she cared about. In that moment, more than any other, he was so proud to call her his daughter. He crossed the room and pulled her close, tears flowing shamelessly down his face. When they pulled apart he smiled.

"I take it you have a plan."

Max smiled and had that look in her eye that they all knew meant trouble as she nodded her head.

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The plans were set and now they just waited for the time to say their good-byes, a time that was approaching much too fast for the group's' liking. Max and Logan sat alone in his study looking over the warehouse's schematics but Max had not said anything for a good ten minutes. She knew what she was about to do was risky to say the least so she wanted to be prepared.

"Logan," she began, and then stopped not knowing how to word it. He looked up at her with that worried frown firmly in place. "I need you to promise me that if I don't make it back from this thing, that you'll take Tamzin every Thursday and make sure she knows I love her, okay? I never told her, but I do."

"Max stop talking like that, you're not going anywhere."

"Logan, promise me." Max pushed, pleading with him. Her voice was strong and serious.

"Fine, but it's a promise I don't want to end up keeping." Logan held her hand and stroked it gently with his thumb.

"Good 'cause there's one more thing..." She took a deep breath, "I need you to delete me, make it like my life out of Manticore never existed. I mean everything Logan, from my fake birth certificate to parking tickets. I don't want them to get to any of my family through me, they can't know about any of this."

"I don't like it... any of it." Logan relented after a minute. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it; pulling back to look her in the eye, "Max I…"

Her fingers on his lips silenced him, "I know, please don't say it. I'm not strong enough to walk away if you do."

He nodded sadly pulling her up and securing her lips with his for what could possibly be the last time and by the end of it they were both in tears.

**Warehouse: Fifth and Grand 7:54**

A van pulled up in the deserted street and parked in front of the warehouse. A hooded figure made its way across the darkened street towards the building that was shrouded in shadow. The dull light that fought its way through the few grimy windows that were not covered by boards was the only sign of life in the area. The heavy metal doors screeched on their hinges as they were opened, alerting anyone who bothered to listen of a new arrival.

The room was large but fairly empty, a few shipping crates littered it's perimeter but every surface had a thick layer of dust signalling obvious disuse and abandonment. Raz, Bailey, Corrin, Sketchy and Herbal sat in the centre of the room their hands and feet bound to the chairs they had been forced into , their mouths were gagged. They looked up as someone new approached them, wearing baggy pants, black gloves, sneakers and an over sized sweatshirt, its hood shielding their face. All of them were pale and shaken, all frightened as to what would come next and what this new arrival was coming to do to them. However, this person whoever it was, approached them immediately and began work on Sketchy's bonds, talking hurriedly in a deep voice.

"As soon as I untie you, help the others get free and get out of here," the figure said shoving a set of keys into his now free hand before starting on the other, "There's a van parked outside, get in and drive to Crash, there'll be someone waiting for you..."

The person didn't get to finish the sentence as a gun cocked directly behind them stilling their movements on the rope. The hostages eyes widened in fear as their only salvation was taken away from them just as soon as it had come.

"Hold it right there, Marcus," a voice ordered, "Put your hands on your head and walk back wards slowly."

Marcus did as he was told, moving until something hard pressed into his neck.

"Now, I'll make this easy for you," the male voice sneered, "Tell me where the money is and I let you and your friends live."

"I don't know where your money is but if you hurt them, I'll kill you." Marcus answered, his baritone echoing around the room.

"Don't play with me Boy!" the man spat jamming the gun against Marcus' neck emphasising the point, "Where is my money?"

Marcus moved before his captor had time to react, turning to grab the arm that held the gun and bringing it down against his knee with such violent force that the bone snapped in half. The gun dropped out of his lifeless hand as he let out a howl of pain and crumpled to his knees. Marcus moved to stand in front of him; kicking his discarded weapon away from the cringing man. He wore a crisp tailored suit that spoke of importance and rank. The number eighteen was tattooed on the dark skin at his neck announcing to everyone he was with MS-18. The man looked up at him, arrogant despite his injury.

"I'm going to fucking kill you for this," he bit back a wince, "Did you hear me Marcus? You're a dead man."

Marcus' response was a perfectly executed roundhouse kick that connected with the man's jaw which gave a sickening crack. The man's eyes rolled back in his head as he flew backwards and landed spread eagled on the floor, blood streaming from his nose and mouth. Marcus loomed over the unconscious man, drawing back his hood to reveal Max's fair skin and cascading brown curls. The hostages gasped into their gags at the sight of her and Sketchy, who was dutifully trying to release his other hand , froze in surprise. Max unhooked the headset she was wearing from behind her ear and unfastened the small speaker from around her throat and threw them both at the unconscious man on the floor.

"The name is Max," She spat, glad to be using her own voice again, "And that is for kidnapping my best friends you son of a bitch."

"Max?" Sketchy asked tentatively and she turned to find him looking at her with a mixture of awe and fear, "What the hell is going on?"

"Sketch, there is no time," Max hurried to Corrin and began on her bonds, "just get the others and get out."

The sound of twenty rounds being chambered echoed all around her and the thud of heavy boots which soon materialised into twenty armed soldiers who appeared from behind the shipping crates, surrounding Max and the hostages. Max was instantly in a fighting stance, facing most of the soldiers, an angry scowl marring her features. She had known it was a trap the second she entered the building, her overcharged senses picking up at least twenty pairs of lungs breathing heavily in anxiety. The sight of her friends tied to chairs looking scared shitless however, had ensured that she couldn't just turn and leave. She had known before hand the Marcus disguise would only get her so far, even if she had only been dealing with the MS-18. From the beginning it had only been a matter of when they were going to show themselves. Max was guessing her showcase of Manticore athleticism was what inspired the current situation.

"I can't let you do that 452." Two soldiers shifted position to let Donald Lydecker through, his hands behind his back, a smug smile pulling at his lips.

"Sketchy, no matter what happens, get them free and get them out." Max ordered her eyes never leaving the face of her own private Anti-Christ. "Don't worry about me."

"But Max..." he began, she didn't let him finish.

"Sketch, for once in your life just listen to me!" She snapped and he nodded.

Lydecker shook his head, "You disappoint me 452. I thought I taught you better."

"I try to forget everything you taught me." Max spat, her every word smeared with the hate and disgust she felt for the man in front of her.

"You're weak 452, its phoney sentimentality and look where it has gotten you. You come running to save these people but tell me, would they still treat you the same if they knew what a monster you really were? How would they feel if they knew what you were made to do?" Lydecker paused, his smug smile never faltering, "But then again, the dead don't feel much."

With a click of his fingers six automatic weapons aimed at the hostages; who let out involuntary whimpers as they suddenly found themselves staring down half a dozen loaded weapons. Max reacted instantly, her fist flying into the face of the soldier closest to her before she pounded her knee into his groin which floored him. She grabbed his gun and fired two well placed shots to the shoulder and hand of each of her friend's would be executioners even though the feel of the cold metal in her hands made her physically sick. She knew she could easily take six men out in seconds but the last thing she wanted was an itchy trigger finger killing any of her friends;, she had to play it smart if she was going to get them through this unharmed. Now that the five remaining soldiers had all been moderately disarmed, she pounced again, using the gun as a club to floor the next guy before tossing it aside. The next soldier advanced on her but before he got the chance to even think about attacking, Max grabbed a firm hold on his shoulders before jumping over him in a big arc. When her feet hit the floor she used her momentum to hurl him over her head, making him crash into two other aiming soldiers and through the rotting wood of a nearby crate. Now only one of them remained who, despite his injuries, made an attempt to defend himself, throwing a punch which Max easily dodged. The momentum of his missed blow launched him forward, making him lose his balance. Max took the opening, wrenching his arm behind his back before quickly grabbing the back of his head pushing it down until it met the concrete floor with an audible squish.

Max drew herself up to her full height paying little attention to the carnage she had just conducted. Her eyes flashed dangerously as they swept over the remaining soldiers whose guns were now aimed solely on her before settling on Lydecker, who looked utterly unconcerned that six of his men were out of action.

"Next person who aims a gun at them dies!" she warned.

"You're making this more difficult than it needs to be 452." Lydecker announced coolly.

His smile was beginning to grate on her last nerve and if anything it only seemed to grow with her every action. It was then she realised that this was exactly what he wanted, proof that she was who she claimed to be, with the added bonus of making her jump through hoops in front of the very people who would run screaming if they knew what she was. He was taunting her and she had obliged like a puppet on a string, the death threat had been a bluff, if it hadn't of been, her friends would have probably been dead long before. No, he had no intention of hurting them, yet. They were just bait; as long as she co-operated. If things did not go the way he wished he still had his hostages as bargaining chips and Max had no doubt in her mind that he had no reservations about putting a bullet in each of their heads if Max defied him. So she would give him what he wanted, no matter how much it tore at her insides.

"Then I'll make it really simple," Max finally said stealing a quick glance over her shoulder, "You let them go free and I'll come quietly."

Lydecker didn't even flinch as Max offered her hands ready to be cuffed, her stance one of surrender. He had gotten what he had come for, all had gone according to plan – his rank and ability to do his job was no longer in question.

"Your capture in exchange for their freedom?" he asked clarifying, Max nodded.

"You guarantee that they walk out of here now, and return unharmed to their families, I let you take me back without a fight."

He seemed to consider it for a moment that Max knew was just for show before ordering a soldier forward to restrain her, another four to release their hostages and those left to draw back but keep their weapons raised.

"What? Max, No! We're not just going to leave you here!" a finally free Corrin said as she threw caution to the wind and approached her friend. The others followed and nodded their agreement, lacking the courage of their friend's voice.

"It's the only way." A now handcuffed Max replied, "It's me they want, for reasons I can't explain. Just go and forget you ever met me."

"But Max..."

"Leave!" Max snapped even though her heart broke as she said it. Tears sprang into Corrin's eyes immediately but she nodded mutely. The girl had gotten five steps away before she turned to lock Max in a life threatening, bone crushing, wonderful, loving embrace that far ended too soon for Max's liking.

"We love you Max." Corrin whispered as she pulled back, loud enough for only Max to hear. Her face was covered in tears as she turned away once more to join the group who each had similar streams of tears streaking down their faces.

"Go!" Max ordered one last time and they obeyed sprinting to the doors by which Max had gained entry.

Max could do nothing but watch as her greatest fear came true. She was losing everything she cared about. It felt as though her heart was in a vice grip and a pain not entirely physical ripped through her. She was going back to that hell on earth she had sworn she would never return to, but now things were different, she was different; the people running out of that door had ensured that. The sound of an engine starting ripped through the silence that had fallen over the warehouse. As the sound of the V6 motor faded into the distance a sad smile tugged at her lips, they were safe and Logan would make sure they would stay that way. Lydecker ordered his men to form a perimeter around the prisoner and she did nothing to stop them. Her eyes met his and she could see the arrogance pouring out of them. This is what he had planned; he had lured her there and had captured her, ending the hunt that had lasted eight years. He thought he had won but how wrong he was; he no longer knew what he was dealing with. Max let herself be lead to the armoured truck that Lydecker had summoned without protest and barely flinched as her legs were shackled and chained to the floor. She just looked at them with cold dead eyes until the doors were bolted shut leaving her shrouded in darkness. This was the first and only easy task they would have because little did they know it they had awoken a beast that would not be laid to rest, a beast that had began as their creation but was strengthened by the very things they had denied it, family, friends, love. Now the beast was returning home but this time things were different, X5-452 was dead. Her name was MAX and there was hell to pay for whoever tried to change that.


	19. viva la resistance

**A/N: **Alright, I decided to let Max get captured again because i think the escape could have gone better in the show i.e. her NOT getting shot which ultimately led to the virus ggrrr!!!! anyways... i'm sorry this is such a short chapter but i thought hey, it's better than nothing and given the amount of art coursework i have to do i don't know when i'll be able to upload or even write the rest *sigh*

Be warned this chap is not betaed as both me and my beta have final exams to be studying for =(

again, not mine.....................

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Logan stood outside Crash watching the horizon unblinkingly any sign of life. Original Cindy paced nervously behind him, the rhythmic thuds of her footfalls on the pavement the only sound other than Mr and Mrs Guevera's occasional hushed whispers. They sat on the hood of their car, their attention also fixed on the road beyond. The group grew still as two headlights suddenly appeared on the horizon, small at first but growing bigger by the second. They held a collective breath as this had happened before and they had both been false alarms, but this car did not take the almost imperceptible turn off the road that lead to Crash. No, this one carried on straight and as it grew closer it was clear that it was the same van Max had driven off in no more than two and a half hours ago. The moment they had all been waiting for was now here and each person felt their stomach constrict with anxiety. It seemed like it took the van an eternity to finally come to a stop in front of the group but before it had even pulled to a stop, the sliding door on the right side of the van was thrown open and the would be hostages came pouring out. Raz and Corrin were the first and immediately ran into Mrs Guevera's open arms seeking the motherly comfort she provided. They broke down in sobs as Cindy came to join them, mumbling incoherently about their ordeal. The boys were more restrained as they disembarked but the despair etched into their faces spoke of their pain.

"Max?" Logan asked Sketchy and the fresh wave of sorrow that crossed the other man's features told him all he needed to know. With an almost nonexistent shake of the head he shrank down to his knees and let out a strangled sob. Mr Guevera knelt beside him, fighting the tears in his own eyes, and placed a supportive hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay son." He said gently.

"No, it's not," Sketchy replied in a voice so thick with emotion that he hardly sounded like himself, "She came to save us and then we just left her there. They took her, it's all our fault."

At his admission the group broke down again, Raz and Corrin let out wails of sorrow and Herbal and Bailey slumped to the floor in defeat.

"Come now, come now," Mrs Guevera shushed around her own tears, "Max knew what she was getting herself into. This is not your fault, do you understand me?"

"But we ran!" Corrin wailed. "We left her behind. She told us to run and we left her with him!"

"Then you did the right thing," Mrs Guevera continued, "Because if you had not done what you did, you would all be dead by now and Max's sacrifice would have been for nothing."

"Where did they take her?" Bailey asked speaking for the first time since he had gotten in the van, "Why did they take her?"

"This is not the place for those answers son," Mr Guevera said gently as he helped the boys off the floor. "Let's get you warm and out of those dirty clothes first. Come along kids, I called all your parents to let them know that you will be staying at our house tonight."

And so with heavy hearts the boys jumped into Logan's car, the girls in Mrs Guevera's and the two cars pulled out of the Crash parking lot and began the journey home to a life that no longer seemed complete. The white van stood where it was left, a tow truck would arrive in the morning and take it to get crushed, destroying all evidence of its existence and former occupants.

**The Guevera household 10pm**

"A genetically engineered super-soldier made by a secret government organisation?" Raz asked, summarising the explanation Mr and Mrs Guevera had just given them.

The group sat scattered around the Guevera's living room, each with a hot cup of cocoa in hand. Mrs Guevera had seen to it that everyone had bathed or showered and changed into something dry or warm before she herded them into the living room. Now she sat next to her husband while five pairs of confused eyes regarded her with understandable scepticism.

"In so many words, Yes."

"Krit too?" Mrs Guevera answered Raz's question with a slight nod.

"Well that makes perfect sense." Every eye in the room was now trained on Sketchy who shrank under their gaze.

"Care to elaborate?" Corrin asked, an amused smile pulling at her lips despite the circumstances.

"You all saw what she did," Sketchy said defensively, "The only explanations I could come up with is that she was either bitten by a radioactive spider, is a secret member of the X-men or aliens. Government science project never came to mind but it actually makes perfect sense."

"Only in your head, Sugar." Original Cindy said chuckling, "It took me a little while longer to adjust to the fact that our home girl ain't exactly human."

"Seriously dude," Bailey added also smiling despite his best efforts, "You need to lay off the comic books man."

Sketchy simply shrugged and the mood sobered again.

"What happens now?" Corrin asked, "How do we know those men won't come after us again?"

"Max won't let that happen." Logan said from his place in the corner of the room. It was the first thing he had said since they had arrived and a shocked silence enveloped the room. He paid no attention to anyone, simply stood staring into his untouched mug of cocoa as he had done for the last twenty minutes and spoke again. "For the next seventy-two hours she will do whatever they tell her to do so that you guys get to go to your Prom. Straight after prom you will be flown via a Cale Industries private jet to an island in the Caribbean that my family owns where you will spend the summer before you head off to your respective colleges at the beginning of the semester. I will make sure that Manticore will never be able to find neither you nor your families, the Caribbean is just a precaution but I thought you guys could use a vacation after tonight. However, the choice is yours, I'm sure other arrangements can be made if you want, that's just what Max had me set up as a contingency plan. Whatever you chose will be paid for of course."

He still had not looked up from his beverage, but the stunned silence continued. He had expected as much, it was after all a lot of information to take in. Corrin was the first to break the silence.

"How?" she asked, a certain part of Logan's explanation not sitting right with her. "I'll agree to this, all of this, if you tell me how you're going to make sure Manticore never finds me or my family."

His eyes flicked to hers so that his reply left her in no doubt as to the depth of its truth.

"I'm going to find out where they've taken her, I'm going to get her out and then I'm going to burn the place down to the ground so that Manticore can never hurt anyone again."

To his surprise a slow smile spread across her lips, she suddenly had the look of a woman with a plan and that was never good.

"In that case I take it all back." She announced, "I'm staying and I'm helping you get her out."

"What?" Both Logan and the rest of the room's occupants chorused.

"I said that I'm staying, we'll hit the Caribbean when we have our girl back." Corrin said again crossing her arms across her chest for emphasis.

"Why didn't you say somethin' about the rescue mission sooner rich boy? I'm in too." Original Cindy added.

"What? No!" Logan stated, wondering how things had gotten so off track so fast. "Listen, I appreciate what you're trying to do but..."

"There's no way I'm missing taking out a secret government organisation," Sketchy said cutting Logan's reply off, "I'm in too."

"I was considering taking a gap year anyway," Raz said with a smile.

"And wherever she goes I go." Bailey said slinging a supportive arm around his twin sister.

"Don't forget about I and I," Herbal added as well, "For Jah helps those who help themselves."

Logan, who had not anticipated this, looked from one face to another his mouth opening and closing a few times but noting came out. Shaking his head to clear his stupor he looked to his last line of defence, the parents. Surely they could see that this was a fool's errand, surely they could be the voice of reason here.

"Mr and Mrs Guevera, please. You know what these people are capable of; tell them it's too dangerous. Please, make them see sense." He begged.

The two adults shared a long glance that seemed to say volumes before Mr Guevera nodded. He turned to the group, all united with a new hope and purpose and he knew he could not fault their determination.

"Logan is right." He said. Several looks of betrayal were aimed at him but he continued. "These are very dangerous people. They are ruthless, trained soldiers with no mercy who have no qualms about putting a bullet in your head. However, they have something to belongs to us, and we need to get her back. So, I'm sorry Logan but I can only offer both mine and my wife's services to this suicidal endeavour."

The relief Logan had felt at the beginning of Mr Guevera's speech had long since evaporated. He looked at the larger man smiling despite his use of the word suicidal and he hung his head in defeat.

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	20. home is where the heart is

**A/N: **I decided not to put Renfro in this as the only reason she was in the show was to introduce the cult/White/Sandeman plot which I'm not gonna use. So expect no lovey dovey Lydecker either. Also this chapter is also not betaed as neither me or my beta has had time so all grammar and spelling mistakes are my bad. You have been warned. Anyways, on with the show.

Much love for the reviews as always =)

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The fact that she was fighting her way back into consciousness was her first clue that she had been drugged. Her eyelids were heavy and she had a severe case of cotton mouth but she ignored it more concerned with the cool metal restraints that she could feel biting at her wrists and ankles. Closing her eyes she assessed her situation. She was on her back, on a metal table if the cold seeping into her bones was any indication but the question now was how she got there. All she could remember was silence, the suffocating darkness of the truck and the slight but relentless shifting of the vehicle as it sped down the road she could not see. It had just been her and her thoughts for hours and they ran in a constant loop remembering the horrors she was returning to and the joys she was leaving behind. She couldn't remember slipping out of consciousness which meant that they had probably pumped sleeping gas into the back of the truck without her noticing. Cowards. She made another attempt at opening her eyes but the glare from the white light above her soon had her shutting them again. Turning her head to the side she tried again, blinking a few times to clear her vision and allow her eyes to adjust to the light. As soon as they focused she fought the urge to close them again as she once again came face to face with the man that had haunted her for the last eight years. He stood no more than five metres away from her, behind a sheet of glass mounted in the wall for observational purposes and Max longed to knock that sanctimonious smirk right off his face. An angry scowl immediately lit up her features as her body arched up off the table as she fought against her restraints. If anything her reaction fuelled his satisfaction, his smug smirk pulling that much tighter at his lips. Repulsed she turned away from him, opting instead to take in her surroundings searching for any means of an escape just like they'd taught her. The room was square and couldn't be more than fifteen metres across and its solid grey concrete walls were unadorned except for the camera mounted in the right hand corner. The metal table she had been strapped to was the only piece of furniture and its base disappeared into the concrete that made up the floor below her. The ceiling was as uninspiring aside for the three long neon bulbs that bathed the room in unrelenting white light. Having no other option her gaze returned to her left. The only entrance to the room was the door to the left of the glass panel and above a speaker, no doubt for communicating with her without direct contact. Almost as if he had heard her thoughts Lydecker's voice crackled through the speaker and echoed around the room.

"Welcome home, 452. Comfortable?" He asked sarcasm colouring his tone.

Max ignored him. The cold table wasn't exactly a tempur mattress but they had taught her to deal with worse. For the first time since she woke up she examined herself. The comfortable baggy clothes she had been captured in had been replaced with a non-descript grey gown that stretched to just above her knee and underneath that she felt the tell tale grip of elastic which told her she was at least wearing underwear. This knowledge left her unaffected, years of being forced to share showers with her entire unit, male or female meant any shame she should have felt at being naked in front of the opposite sex was non-existent, when she escaped she had learnt there were boundaries but only observed them for the sake of appearing normal. She also knew Lydecker would have not let anything non-regulation occur to his trophy so doubted that anything other than a decontamination of her person had occurred as the hair that fell around her shoulders was damp as well. What worried her however was else had they done to her while she was out if she had apparently been showered and changed without her knowledge. That was the thought that brought a slight shiver to her spine. Lydecker, misinterpreting her shudder spoke again.

"Not exactly the Orange County lifestyle you're used to but I'm sure you'll survive." He sneered. "After all, this will be your home for the duration of your assimilation."

He paused then, seemingly waiting for a reaction from her but when no response was forthcoming he continued his taunting.

"Oh and psy-ops can't wait to get their hands on you 452. Dr Maitland is especially eager for a new subject to test his neural transmitter on. Said something about none of his other test subjects having enough cranial capacity or some such nonsense, I don't pay attention to the details. Of course if you just told us all you know about your fellow escapees I'm sure cranial intrusion can be avoided and trust me 452 you'd want to avoid it."

Again she did not answer which sparked his annoyance, his smirk faltering for the first time. Her gaze remained focused on the ceiling above her and if he was not mistaken she was whistling.

"I'm warning you 452. Tell me what you know about your unit or things are going to get very, very ugly."

Her whistling stopped as her head slowly turned until she faced him again. A feral smile pulled at her lips and her brown eyes flashed dangerously before she offered her reply.

"Fuck you Old Man!" She said forcefully, "Throw whatever you have at me you Rat Bastard, I ain't telling you shit!"

Smirk now nowhere to be seen Lydecker shook his head almost in regret. Max had expected no less; this was just a price she promised herself she would pay. They would get nothing out of her but that wasn't going to stop them trying their hardest to do so, using whatever means possible. They would see exactly what she was made of now, the amount of will power that could come from protecting what you cared about, the strength of the human spirit, for that was what she had now thanks to her friends and family, and nothing could change that.

"You're going to live to regret this 452." He said a snarl in his voice now.

She chuckled as his holier-than-thou attitude crumbled around him. The years had changed him, normally nothing would faze the ever stoic form of her former commander and Max liked to think their escape had something to do with it. Her chuckle became a full out laugh just to irk him.

"Trust me Don, you're the only one who's gonna live to regret anything." She said with a smile that left even the great Donald Lydecker feeling a little uneasy, not that he would ever show any sign of it. "And the name is Max, Ass Wipe."

Chuckling again her gaze returned to the ceiling, ignoring his presence once more. With one more disappointed shake of the head Lydecker left the observation room through the door to his left. He had known things weren't going to be that easy, he was not that naive but the fact that 452 held the key to at least one other X5 made him antsy. He was eager to put the last eight years behind him as they had consisted of nothing but fighting for the continuation of his funding because of failure after failure and defending himself and his worth not only as a soldier but as a leader fit to run the Manticore Project. It had all started with the X5's and he was going to make damn sure it was going to end with them and as far as he was concerned the sooner the better. Now all that stood in his way of coming that much closer to his goal was an extremely cocky genetically enhanced teenager. His moment of introspection over his smirk returned to his lips. She would soon be changing her tune, they all did eventually and he would enjoy watching this one break.

**Monday Night Harley High gym 21:00**

The group of dejected students gathered around the circular table looked out of place among the festivities despite their formal attire. The boys looked strapping in well tailored suits while the girls looked immaculate in extravagant but flattering evening gowns and well planned hairstyles but the misery that was reflected on each face stood out against the laughing and dancing that continued around them. Prom and graduation no longer held any excitement for the group and the only reason they had actually attended was to avoid their parents' suspicion. As far as the adults knew they were all going on holiday to the Caribbean for the duration of the summer, a sudden announcement but one they had all eventually agreed to. In reality Logan was setting them up in a safe house along the coast, their base of operations for however long it took to get Max back. Logan spoke in hushed tones about what he knew and what they had to do and the whole table listened intently, nodding when appropriate, Raz or Corrin throwing in a question now and then. The two hours that they had promised to spend at the teenage right of passage were drawing to a close when the doors to the gymnasium burst open drawing the attention of most of those in attendance. Krit stood on the threshold most of his person covered in mud, his body shaking with unrestrained fury as his eyes searched the stunned crowd. When his brown eyes landed on Logan an enraged snarl erupted from him as he angrily pushed his way through the crowd.

"You!" He screamed. Charging forward his threatening stride turning into a predatory lope as his pace quickened. The room was silent now watching the drama unfold between the two stars of the basketball team.

Logan stood having expected this, what he did not expect was Sketchy, Herbal and Bailey moving to stand between him and the charging X5. None of them looked particularly confident they could control an angry genetically enhanced killing machine but the gesture was touching none the less.

"Let him through." Logan told them as he watched the second angry X5 in as many weeks looked at him with murder in their eyes. They all turned to stare at him incredulously.

"Logan, he'll kill you." Bailey pointed out.

"If you don't move he'll kill you first." Logan rebutted.

Sketchy looked from Krit who was gaining speed by the second to Logan and back again and nodded sadly.

"You make a valid point." He said as he stepped back. "Good luck man."

"Thanks." Logan said swallowing thickly as Krit reached their table. "Krit listen..."

Logan had expected Krit to stop once he reached the table so he could at least try to talk him down, what he didn't expect was Krit launching himself over the table with an furious roar and crashing into him with the force of an eighteen wheeler. Krit's momentum threw them both backwards crashing into the table behind them which buckled under their weight. At this point the party around them had come to a complete stop and all eyes were glued to the scene unfolding. The shocked Harley High seniors let out sympathetic groans of pain as Krit landed a right then a left punch across Logan's jaw while the blonde boy made no move to defend himself.

"You let her go!" Krit screamed again as he lifted Logan of the table's wreckage by the lapels and slammed him back down forcefully, "You let her go back there!"

"I tried to stop her." Logan gasped only to have Krit slam him down again. Logan's head swam and Krit's furious face came in and out of focus. Just as he thought he was going to pass out a female voice echoed around the room and stilled the rabid X5's movements.

"Let him go, Krit." She ordered and the entire audience swung in her direction, the whole thing having turned into one of those car crash situations that everyone could not look away from.

The new arrival did nothing but add more mystery to the already baffling situation. This girl looked to be around nineteen but that was anyone's guess as she was not a student at Harley High. She like Krit was, for reasons unknown, was also covered in mud. It caked her blonde shoulder length hair and dappled her pale skin but despite the patches of dark earth her blue eyes were vivid and intense. Her mud stained leather jacket squeaked as she walked dutifully ignoring the stares she was receiving.

"No," Krit said as he turned to look at her still set in his menacing crouch with Logan hanging limp from his lapels. "He let her go back there, Syl."

"He's got a plan, Krit." Original Cindy announced and the audience's attention swung to her like they were watching a tennis match.

At this revelation Krit's eyes swung back to Logan whose dazed blue eyed gaze regarded him warily.

"Will it work?" Krit asked, the look in his eyes signalling that only an honest answer would not lead to more pain.

Logan swallowed thickly again before he nodded. Krit looked at him for a long moment before he gave a slight nod himself even though his breathing was still laboured. Syl seemed to be the only one brave enough to approach the still angry but considerably calmer Krit. She grabbed him by the arm and hauled him off of Logan whose left cheek was already starting to swell. If their audience had been confused before, they became absolutely dumbfounded when Krit offered Logan a hand up and Logan took it without complaint with a hint of a smile pulling at his lips as if the last ten minutes had never happened. Apparently satisfied that it was now safe to approach them, Bailey, Herbal and Sketchy moved to Logan's aid, letting him use them as a crutch as they began to make for the door. Krit and Syl turned to follow, with Raz, Corrin and Original Cindy bringing up the rear. The crowd parted wordlessly as the group of teens moved through it and watched open mouthed as they exited the building offering no explanation as to what had just transpired.

"What the hell was that all about?" Nicole Tanner asked fellow cheerleader Samantha Willis, stunned expression still in place.

"No clue?" Samantha replied as the DJ decided to break the tension by restarting the music.

The drama over, the seniors returned to the dance floor and continued to consume copious amounts of spiked punch until the unexpected fight was the last thing on their minds and the reason for it unimportant.

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Ok, so Krit is back and he brought a friend, I'm sure we all remeber Syl right? Details on how these two hooked up and why exactly they are covered in mud will all be in the next chapter =)


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